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HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



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BROOKLINE, MASS 



BY 



HARRIET F. WOODS 






BOSTON: 

Publislic^ for the QVntlior, bn 

ROBERT S. DAVIS AND COMPANY. 

1874. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 

Hakriet F. Woods, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



This work is printed for Suhscnbers, only. 



RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: 
PRINTED BY H. O. HOUGHTON AND COMPANY. 






PREFACE. 



The sketches of which this vohime is composed, do not 
claim to be an exhaustive Town History, but are prin- 
cipally a series of articles written under the title of 
'' Brookline as it was," and published in the " Brookline 
Transcript," during the years 1871-2. They are chiefly 
descriptive of the oldest streets and houses, with biograph- 
ical sketches of some interesting persons, and local anec- 
dotes and events. These papers have lately been care- 
fully revised and corrected by the author, who has added 
new matter, including a chapter on Brookline in the late 
war. 

She has been largely indebted for material, to the 
writings of Rev. Dr. Pierce (whose biography is con- 
tained in this work), to old family records and legal doc- 
uments, and to verbal information from old inhabitants 
of the town. Deacon Thomas Griggs, Benjamin B. 
Davis, Esq., the late Dr. S. A. ShurtlefiP, George Craft, 
Esq., A. W. Goddard, Esq., the late Otis Withington, 
the Misses Heath, and many others, have contributed 
valuable information. The various publications of the 
New England Historic Genealogical Society have been 
frequently consulted, as also the genealogical works of 
Bond, Savage, and others. 



IV PREFACE. 

Ill the winter of 1873-4, Miss Abby L. Pierce (daugh- 
ter of Rev. Dr. Pierce above-mentioned), desirous of 
seeing these sketches preserved in a permanent form, vol- 
untarily undertook the labor of obtaining subscribers for 
this object, and to her industry and perseverance the 
success of the undertaking is chiefly due. To this lady, 
and to Robert S. Davis, Esq., who has kindly arranged 
for the printing of the work, the writer herewith tenders 
her heartfelt thanks. Also to all who have in any way 
contributed to the interest or correctness of the work, or 
to the enterprise of placing it before the public, she 
gratefully acknowledges her indebtedness. It is hoped 
that it may be read Avith as much pleasure as it has 

been written. 

H. F. W. 

Cypress St., Brookline, April, 1874. 



CONTEXTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Early Scenes, Settlements, and Events. — Separation from 
Boston. — Old Families and their Lands • . . . 9 

CHAPTER II. 
The "Punch Bowl." — First Public Coaches. — J. Daven- 
port. — The " White " House. — Village Doctors. — Wy- 
MAN and Downer Houses IS 

CHAPTER III. 
The Depot Ground. — The Davis Estate. — Sambo. — Dana 
Tavern. — Tom Cook. — The Baptist Church . . . .39 

CHAPTER IV. 

Harrison Place. — St. Mary's Church. — Linden Place.^ 
Thomas A. Davis. ^-Aspinwall Avenue, or, " Perry's Lane" .59 

CHAPTER V. 

The Aspinwall Family. — The Colonel. — The Doctor. — 
The Old School-house on School Street .... 07 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Sharps. — Curious Old Papers. — The Sewalls. — Ed- 
ward Devotion. — Captain Winchester. — The Griggs 
Family — Harvard Street, conclude!) 98 



VI CONTENTS.. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Washington Street. — Holden's Hill. — The Leeds Place. — 
The Public Library 125 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Fire Department. — The Dana Place. — Miss Anna Dana 135 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Hall House. — The Tolman House. — The Croft Houses. 
— "Black Susy." — Miss Hannah Adams. — Dr. Wild. — 
The Blake Place. — The Aspinwall Place .... 148 

CHAPTER X. 

The Robinson, Withington, and Corey Places. — Cypress 
Street. — Boylston Street. —Gideon Thayer. — Dr. Shurt- 
leff. — Bradley's Hill 175 



CHAPTER XL 

Boylston and Brighton Streets. — Walnut Street — Houses 
along the Lower Part. — The Walley or Bird Houses. — 
The Clark House. — The Cemetery 199 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Old Brick School-house. — Master Adams. — The Stone 
School-house. — The First Church. — Rev. Mr. Allen. — 
Rev. Mr. Jackson 225 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Rev. Dr. Pierce : Biography. — Mr. Philbrick and the Anti- 
slavery movement. — Polly Hatch: Anecdotes, Her Mar- 
riage AND Death 251 



CONTENTS. Vll 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Gardner Family and Houses. — The Boylstox, or Hys- 
Lop Place (Colonel Lee's). — The Ackers Place. — Old 
Indian Burial Place . . -> 284 

CHAPTER XV.1 

The House op Samuel White, Esq., Afterwards the Heath 
Place. — "Aunt White." — The Winchesters . . .313 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Heath Street, concluded. — Warren Street. — Anecdote 
OF Joshua Boylston, Deacon Clark, Miss Prudy Heath, 
Colonel Perkins. — Goddard Avenue. — The Goddards in 
THE Revolution. — A Patriotic Family. — Cottage Street. 
— The Lee Place 344 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Clyde Street. — Newton Street — " Putterham." — The 
Craft Place (now the Denny Place). — The Old Saw- 
mill. — South Street. — Ancient House attacked by In- 
dians. — James Griggs. — The Kendricks .... 373 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

High Street Church — Church of Our Saviour. — Gospel 
Church. — Local Industries 396 

CHAPTER XIX. 
A Brief Summary op the Military History op Brookline . 406 

Brookline Soldiers who lost their Lives during or in 
Consequence op the Rebellion 422 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

OP 

BROOKLINE. 



CHAPTER I. 

EARLY SCENES, SETTLEMENTS, AND EVENTS. SEPARATION 

FROM BOSTON. OLD FAMILIES AND THEIR LANDS. 

r OOKING westward from the hills of Boston in Gov- 
^ ernor Winthrop's time, Charles River Bay was spread 
at high tide, an unbroken sheet of water from Cambridge 
shore to Roxbury Neck. Our present Brookline lay in 
full view, with its wood-crowned heights, now Corey's 
and AspinwalFs hills, lifting themselves up against the 
sunset, and its green slopes and winding brooks lying 
between. 

It was but two miles across the bay, and here the 
thriving colonists of Trim oun tain, " which was bare of 
wood except here and there in clumps," came in their 
boats for house timber, as their successors did for sliip 
timber. 

Here, too, they found " arable grounds and meadows," 
and soon availed themselves of them for pasturage. The 
early Shawmut settlers soon explored Charles River, and 
no doubt its tributary Muddy River, which was navigable 
as far as our present boundary line near Pond Avenue. 
Across the broad bay, the stealthy Indians in their birchen 



10 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

canoes, glided from their coverts along the woody shores 
of the two rivers, fishing perhaps where the Public 
Garden at present spreads its attractions ; or startling a 
wood-cutter with the twang of an arrow aimed at a wolf, 
which howled where the steam whistle now shrieks. In 
the " forest primeval " which shaded the site of our 
beautiful Longwood, on a knoll in the centre of what 
the early settlers called " the great swamp," the Indians 
had one of their forts, or strongholds, and here probably 
were encamped '' the ten Sagamores and many Indians," 
which gave Governor Winthrop his first occasion to men- 
tion the hamlet of Muddy River. The oft-quoted record 
reads thus, under date of 1632 : — 

"Notice being given of ten Sagamores and many Indians 
being assembled at Muddy River, the Governor sent Captain 
Underhill with twenty musketeers to make discoveries, but at 
Roxbury they heard that they were broken up.'' 

The old fort, which remained an object of historic 
interest in a tolerable state of preservation until 1844-45, 
was built of palisades, inclosing about an eighth of an 
acre of ground in square form and surrounded by a ditch 
about three feet in depth, and a parapet three feet in 
height, with an opening or gateway on each side, one of 
which was toward the swamp. The residence of William 
Amory, Esq., is located upon the site of this fort. 

The next notice of this place in ^'Winthrop's Journal," 
is in vol. i., p. 290, as follows : — 

"In this year (1638), one James Everett, a sober, discreet 
man, and two others, saw a great light in the night at Muddy 
River. When it stood still, it flamed up and was three yards 
square. When it ran, it was contracted into the figure of a 
swine. It ran as swift as an arrow towards Charlestown and 
so up and down about two or three hours. They were come 



GRANTS OF LAND AT MUDDY RIVKH. 11 

down ill tlieir lighter, about a mile ; and when it was over they 
found tliemselves carried quite back against the tide to the 
place they came from. Divers other credible persons saw the 
same light, after, about the same place." 

The editor of the '' Journal " in a note, says of this 
phenomenon : — 

"This account of an ignis fatuus may easily be believed 
on testimony less respectable than that which was adduced, 
Some operation of the Devil, or other power beyond the cus- 
tomary agents of Nature, was probably imagined by the re- 
lators and hearers of that age ; and the wonder of their being 
carried a mile against the tide became important corroboration 
of the imagination. Perhaps they were wafted, during the two 
or three hours astonishment, for so moderate a distance by the 
wind. But if this suggestion be rejected, we might suppose 
that the eddy, flowing always in our rivers, contrary to the 
tide in the channel, rather than the meteor, carried their lighter 
back." 

In 1633, " It was ordered that a sufficient cart bridge 
shall be made in some convenient place over Muddy 
River," which was the first brid^^e at the crossin^r of the 
present town boundary line. 

A more substantial bridge of stone and gravel was 
built by the town of Roxbury in the following century. 

In 1635, it was ordered " that the poorer sort of in- 
habitants, such as are members, and likely so to be " 
(of the church probably) '^ and have no cattle, have their 
proportion of planting ground, laid out at Muddy River 
. . . . those that fall between the foot of the hill and 
the water to have four acres upon a head, and those 
farther off to have five." 

From ancient records it seems that grants of land were 
often made here in those early times ti induce settle- 
ment. 



12 HISTORICAL SKETCHKS OF liROOKLLXE. 

On the oOtli December, 1639 : — 

" It was agreed that five hundred acres be laid out at Muddy 
River for perpetual commonage to the inhabitants there and 
the town of Boston, to begin at Mr. Hibbons's lott, and so go 
into the countrey as the land will afford before any other allott- 
ments are layd out hereafter. 

" A true Coppie as entered with the records of the Town of 
Boston. Examined per 

Joseph Prout, Toicn Clerks 

In 1640, the boundary line between Muddy River and 
Cambridge was fixed, and has so remained ; but the 
boundary between Brookhne and Roxbury, and between 
Brookline and Boston, has been subjected to seyeral 
changes. 

In 1675, Wood, in his " New England's Prospect," al- 
ludes thus to this locality : — 

" The inhabitants of Boston, for their enlargement, have 
taken to themselves form houses in a place called Muddy River, 
two miles from their town,* where is good ground, large timber, 
and store of marsh land and meadow. In this place they keep 
their swine and other cattle in the Summer, wiiilst corn is 
on the ground at Boston ; and bring them to town in the win- 
ter." 

In 1686, the inhabitants of Muddy River hamlet pe- 
titioned for school privileges and the right to maintain 
them, and the following order Avas passed in compliance 
with their request : — , 

" That henceforth the said Hamlet be free from Town Rates to 
Boston, they henceforth maintaining an able reading and writing 
master." 

This arrangement was gladly accepted, and the people 

* Across the bay. 



A PETITION. 13 

of tlie hamlet agreed to pay the schoolmaster £12 per 
annum, and tax the individuals who availed themselves 
of the school for the balance necessary for tlie support of 
the master, abating in part or wholly the school rates 
of the poor. This is the first entry upon the records of 
the town. Three men were annually chosen at the Bos- 
ton town meeting to manage the affairs of the hamlet, 
which began to be called Brookline about this time, 
though still a part of Boston. A committee of three 
men was chosen to decide where the centre of the town 
was to be found, that the school-house might be located 
there, and they fixed upon the triangular piece of ground 
in Walnut Street, just west of the present Unitarian 
church. The town fathers of those days having " tasted 
the sweets of liberty," soon came to a vivid perception of 
the inconvenience of having^ their local affairs manacled 
by Boston, and on the 11th of March, 1700, they pre- 
sented a petition to be set off as a town by themselves, 
as follows : — 

" To his Excellency, the Governor, Council, and Assembly. 

'• The humble petition of the Inhabitants of Muddy River. 
Humbly Sheiceth, That they are a Hamlet belonging to Boston, 
have been lately settled there and sometime since in the year 
1686 being grown to a good number of inhabitants represented 
to the Government then in being, praying to be acquitted from 
paying duties and taxes to the Town of Boston, being then 
wilHng to bear their own public charges of Bridges, Highwaies, 
and Poor, and were accordingly then released and ordered to 
maintain a Reading and Writing Schoole as the order annexed 
will sliow, which accordingly we have ever since done, and now 
farther humbly pray that being grown to a greater number of 
good settled inhabitants we may be allowed a separate right to 
have Selectmen, and all other rights belonging to a Township, 



14 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKUXE. 

which may further encourage us as we are able to settle a min- 
ister and other benefits amongst us, and we shall ever pray. 
Samuel Sewall, Jr., Benjamin White, 

Thomas Steadman, Sen'r, John Winchester, Sen'r, 

Thomas Gardner, Sen'r, Samuel Aspinwall, 

Joseph White, Josiah Winch kster." 

This gave great offense to tlie town authorities, and 
a town meeting Avas called, the petition was read and the 
reasons therefor debated, which resulted in a negative 
vote, and moreover the laying on again of the town taxes, 
from which they had been for some years excused, though 
they did condescend to allow them a schoolmaster who 
should be appointed by the selectmen and paid out of the 
town treasury. 

This, however, did not quiet the inhabitants of Brook- 
line. In 1704 the subject was renewed, but no favorable 
action was taken, and in 1705 another petition was sent 
in, signed by thirty-two of the inhabitants, to the Assem- 
bly and Council, as follows : — 

" To his Excellency, the Governor, Council, and Assembly, in 
General Court convened. The humble petition of the inhabit- 
ants of Muddy River, sheweth. 

" That at a session of this honorable Court, held at Boston 
on 13 August, 1704, the said inhabitants exhibited their humble 
petition praying, that the said Muddy River might be allowed a 
separate village or peculiar, and be invested with such jjowers 
and rights, as they may be enabled by themselves to manage 
the general affairs of the said place. Which petition has been 
transmitted to the Selectmen of the Town of Boston, that they 
may consider the same ; since which your humble petitioners, 
not liaving been informed of any objection made by the Town 
of Boston, aforesaid, we presume, that there is no obstruction 
to our humble request made in our petition. 

" Wherefore we humbly beseech your Excellency, that this 
honorable Court will be pleased to proceed to pass an Act for 



SEPARATION FROM BOSTON. 15 

tlie establishing of the said place a separate village or peculiar, 
with such powers as aforesaid, and your petitioners shall ever 
pray. 

Samuel Sewall, Jr., Josiah AYixcii ester, 

Tiios. Gardner, John Devotion, 

Benjamin White, Joseph Gardner, 

Thomas Stedman, Thomas Stedman, Jr., 

John AVinchester, John Ackers, 

Samuel Aspinwall, Josiah Stedman, 

Eleazer Aspinwall, Thomas Gardner, Jr., 

William Sharp, Ralph Shepard, 

Edward Devotion, Abraham Chamberlain, 

Josiah Winchester, Jr., Peter Boylston, 

John Ellis, John Ackers, Jr., 

John Winchester, Jr., William Ackers, 

Thomas Woodward, Benjamin White, Jr., 

Holland, Caleb Gardner, 

Gardner, John Seaver, 

Joseph White, Henry Winchester." 

The " prayer" of the above petition was granted on the 
thirteenth day of November, 1705, as appears by the fol- 
lowing record of the town grants : — 

" Anno Regni Annce Regince Quarte. 

" At a great and general Court for her Majesty's Province of 
the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, begun and held at 
Boston upon Wednesday, 13th May, 1705, and continued by 
several prorogations unto AVednesday, 24th October, following 
and then met 13th November, 1705. 

" In Council. 

*' The order passed by the Representatives, upon the Petition 
of the inhabitants of Muddy River, a Hamlet of Boston, read 
on Saturday last, 

'• Ordered, That the prayer of the petition be granted ; and 
the powers and privileges of a Township, be given to the in- 
habitants of the lands commonly known hy the name of Muddy 



16 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BEOOKLINE. 

River, the Town to be called Brooklixe ; who are hereby en- 
joined to build a meeting-house, and obtain an able Orthodox 
minister, according to the direction of the Law, to be settled 
amongst them, within the space of three years next coming. 

" Provided, that all Common Lands, belonging to the Town 
of Boston, lying within the said bounds of Muddy River, not 
disposed of, or allotted out, shall still remain to the proprietors 
of said lands. 

'' Which order, being again read, was concurred, and con- 
sented to. JosKPH Dudley. 

'• Taken from Mr. Addington's copy sent to the Town. 

" A True Copy Examined by me, 

Isaac Addington, Secretary. 

" Recorded by me, 

" Sam'l Sewall, Jr., Town Cleric^ 

Thus, the General Court and Governor Dudley, having 
taking the matter into their own hands, established our 
identity as a town. For a hundred and sixty-five years 
we beheve no one was found who regretted the separa- 
tion from Boston, or desired to relinquish the liberty of 
an independent town. 

The old boundary line of the town, on the side next to 
Roxbury, came down what has till recently been called 
Village Lane, from the direction of Chestnut Street and 
the Lee place, and the lot known as the Oliver Whyte 
place Avas in Brookline, while the house lot of J. A. 
Guild and all the houses on that side of the street were 
in Roxbury. The line crossed the street at the present 
entrance of Pearl Street, and the brick blacksmith's shop 
and all the rest of the village below it were in Roxbury. 
The line followed the brook, now the sewer, and then all 
the windings and turnings of Muddy River till it met the 
corners of Boston and Cambridge in the channel. When 
Brookline Avenue was built, a person going from the 
corner, by the gas works, to the junction, would go in and 



THE CENSUS. 17 

out of Roxbury eight times. The " crooked things have 
been made (comparatively) straight," in this direction. 

The town became a part of Norfolk County in 1793, 
and according to a survey in 1844 contained 4,695 acres. 

The first census of the town on record, was, in 1790, 
518 inhabitants ; in 1800, 605 ; 1820, 900 ; 1840, 1,265 ; 
1860, 5,164 ; 1870, 6,650. 

The centre of the town was also the centre of popula- 
tion for many years, there being in 1796 thirty-eight 
houses above the church and school-house, and thirty- 
four below. In 1844, by a census taken by order of the 
selectmen, there were found eighty-eight houses and one 
hundred families above the centre of the town, and one 
hundred and twenty-four houses and one hundred and 
fifty-six families below ; in the whole, two hundred and 
twelve dwelling-houses and two hundred and fifty-six 
families. All that part of Boston Highlands from Muddy 
River for a half mile or more east, including Parker's 
Hill and Heath Street, and what was on this side of 
Muddy River till it met the old Brookline boundary, was 
called " Roxbury Precinct." 

In this area lived several families, whose lands lying 
along the borders and some of them partl}^ in both towns, 
had many interests in common and whose histories are 
blended and identified with both. Among these were 
the names of Craft, Heath, Griggs, Wyman, Downer, 
and Brewer. 

The old '' Punch Bowl " Tavern was the nucleus around 
which '' the village " gathered, partly in Brookline and 
partly in Roxbury, and from this as a starting point the 
various houses and families of interest, in former days, 
Avill be successively described. 



18 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINK. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE "punch bowl." FIRST PUBLIC COACHES. J. DAVEN- 
PORT. THE " AVHITE " HOUSE. VILLAGE DOCTORS. 

WYMAN AND DOWNER HOUSES. 

FROM the first settlement of the town, until the Mill- 
dam was built, the present Washington Street was 
the only road to Boston in this direction, and the heavy 
teaming from the country towns west of us necessarily 
came through Brookline. There was an immense amount 
of travel of this kind, as there were no railroads then in 
existence, and thus the ancient Punch Bowl Tavern was a 
necessity of the times ; here all the teams stopped for 
" refreshment for man and beast," and this old building 
as a nucleus, gathered around itself the village which 
took its name. Even to this day this place is remem- 
bered by old men in New Hampshire, Vermont, and the 
back towns of this State as " the Punch Bowl Village." 

The original house, built by John Ellis long before 
1740, was a two-story, hipped-roof house, to which, as 
increasing patronage made it necessary, the proprietor 
made additions from time to time by purchasing old 
houses in Boston and vicinity and removing them hither. 
The result was in the aggregate a curious medley of old 
rooms of all sorts and sizes, connected together in a non- 
descript manner and presenting an architectural style, 
which, if we might apply a geological term to it, we 
should call a conglomerate. 

The rafters of the original house were cedar posts. 



THE " PUNCH BOWL." 19 

just as they came from the woods with the bark on. 
This okl tavern and its outbuildings occupied all the 
space on the street from the brick blacksmith's shop, 
now occupied by J. Madore, to the provision store of 
Brown Bros. It was of a yellowish color, and had a 
seat running along the front under an overhanging 
porch, or rather projection of a part of the second 
story, Avhere loungers congregated to discuss the news of 
the day. In front of it and near each end was a large 
elm tree ; under the westerly one stood a pump. This 
tree and pump remained until within a few years, the 
other was long ago destroyed. The ancient sign, sus- 
pended from a high, red post, gave a name to the tavern 
and the village, and swung its hospitable invitation creak- 
ing in the wind for nearly a hundred years. The design 
was a huge bowl and ladle overhung by a lemon tree, 
resplendent with fruit, some of which la}' around the 
bowl as if fallen from the tree. 

Here the Selectmen of the town used to have an annual 
supper, and on one of these occasions the old building 
came near being destroyed by fire. They had sat round 
the table smoking, after the repast, and probably dropped 
fire upon the table-cloth, which was gathered up and 
thrust into a closet by a servant. Soon after retiring, the 
family were wakened by the smell of smoke, and flames 
arising from the closet burst through to the chamber 
overhead, where the landlord's children slept. The 
friijhtened children rushed out in their night clothes to 
the neighbors' houses ; the night was bitterly cold, and 
the ground covered with ice, and but for the landlord's 
promptness and presence of mind, the whole establish- 
ment would have been speedily reduced to ashes. With- 
out stopping to put on a single garment, just as he 
sprang from his bed, he gave the alarm and seized a 



20 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

bucket of swill which he dashed upon the burning mass 
in the closet, closed the doors carefully after him, and 
brought water from the pump, directed the labor of oth- 
ers who came with their buckets, and put the fire out 
and saved the building, though the flames actually 
reached the attic. There was at that time an engine in 
the village kept in a house which stood in what is now 
the front yard of the Oliver Whyte estate. It was 
owned by Brookline and Roxbury in common, as the 
south side of the street from Village Lane to the creek be- 
low Pond Avenue was then a part of Roxbury. The 
extent of the patronage of the old " Punch Bowl " may be 
roughly esti malted from the fact that it was common for 
a row of teams to occupy the side of the street above and 
below the tavern, from what is now Harrison Place, to 
the gas works in a continuous line, while the men and 
horses were being fed and rested. The '' Punch Bowl " 
was not patronized by this class alone, however, but was 
a famous place of resort for gay parties, not only from the 
surrounding towns, but even from Boston, and was much 
frequented by British officers just before the Revolution. 
The mill-dam, the bridges, and the opening of the 
Worcester railroad, at last took all the business away 
from the old " Punch Bowl." It was bought by Mr. Isaac 
Thayer about 1833, and torn down. Much of the ma- 
terial was of solid oak, and was used in building nine 
houses which he erected on the site of the old buildings. 
These are all standing, including the four buildings be- 
tween the brick blacksmith's shop and the brick house 
next to Lyceum Hall, the houses occupied by J. Darragh 
and J. Dustin, and the first three houses on the left in 
White Place.* These last were built on the site of the 

* Since this was written some of these buildings have given place to new 
ones, and some have other occupants. 



FIRST PUBLIC COACHES. 21 

present stores of Russell, Brown, Doherty, and De Frees, 
and were afterwards moved to tlieir present situation. 
The spot where Lyceum Hall stands was vacant for sev- 
eral years. 

The first line of coaches which was established be- 
tween Brookline and Boston, was owned by a Mr. Spurr. 
Perhaps we should have said the first public carriage, as 
there was but one, a sort of small stage which went to 
Boston and returned tw^ice a day, and the rate of fare was 
fixed at twenty-five cents. 

]\Ir. Spurr built and occupied the house now used as 
the Massachusetts Infant Asylum, and his stage started 
from the '' Punch Bowl." This was about J.816 or 1817. 
For want of patronage it was discontinued after a year or 
two. 

Perhaps if that generation had been less hardy or less 
energetic, Mr. Spurrs enterprise would have succeeded 
better, but some of the brave women of the times 
thought twenty-five cents altogether too much to pay the 
stage-driver, and so they walked to Boston, after their 
house-work was done, over Roxbury Hill and the Neck, 
made their purchases, and w^alked home with their parcels 
in their hands. The mother of one of our prominent cit- 
izens made a practice of doing this, though in possession 
of abundant means for riding, had she chosen to do so. 

The New York mail stage passed through the tow^n 
once or twice a week ; the Uxbridge stage three times a 
week, but these did not accommodate Brookline travel. 
After a few years another line of Brookline stages was 
started, and with more or less success struggled along for 
several years ; and then a regular stage from Brighton 
was established, which was driven by Mr. Sumner Well- 
man, a gentlemanly and accommodating man who soon 
w^on the respect of all his Brookline patrons. 



22 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLIXE. 

When Mr. Wellman gave up driving, he was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. B. W. Hobart, so long known as an 
affable conductor, and now station master at the Boston 
and Albany Railroad Station. There were other regular 
Brookline stages after awhile, which accommodated the 
town till the Brookline Branch Railroad was opened. 

On the left or south side of the street as one enters the 
village from Boston, lay the Ward farm, for many years 
the property of John, Samuel, and Henry Ward. It 
remained a part of Roxbury till this family was nearly 
extinct, at least in name, in this vicinity, and was sold 
by the heirs to the Brookline Land Company in 1860. 
A part of the land and the old buildings remained in 
possession of Sylvester Kimball, who had married into 
the Ward family ; but within a short time has been sold 
for house lots. It was a beautiful tract of land, finely 
watered and wooded, and during its existence as a farm 
cultivated with great care. It included nearly all the 
land from Pond Avenue to Chestnut Street, and once 
nearly all from Washington Street to Jamaica Pond, 
being a part of Governor Leverett's allotment. 

Among the old places of interest in and about the vil- 
lage, was once an old chocolate mill. This was accessi- 
ble from the street by the lane through what was lately 
the estate of S. Kimball, passing the old Ward house, 
lately burned. It was situated where the water finds its 
outlet from Willow Pond. There was a large pond there 
then, receiving surplus water from Jamaica Pond ; also a 
dam and flume, parts of which are still to be seen. After 
some time, the old mill having ceased to be used for its 
original purpose, a forge Avas established here, and the 
water-power used to run a trip-hammer. An English- 
man named Montague kept the place, and manufactured 
hoes and shovels. About the beginning of the last war 



THE BARNARD HOUSE. 23 

with England, a Mr. Faxon of Roxbury liired tliis prop 
erty, and cast cannon, which were used during the war. 

The okl flume is on the right of Pond Avenue, is^well 
grass grown, and ])artially concealed by bushes ; and the 
old dam has a row of willow trees growing upon it. The 
aqueduct subsequently built to convey Jamaica Pond 
water to Boston, took all the surplus water, thus reducing 
the pond on the Ward place, and destroying tlie water- 
power. The place has since undergone many alterations 
under the hands of the Brookline Land Company. Mr. 
Faxon, who made the cannon, removed his business to 
Roxbury, where he built the first stoue building on '' Fax- 
on's Hill," so called, in front of the stone quarries. It was 
originally but one story high, and of its present length, 
but was subsequently carried up two or more stories. 

On the street in the village, on the site of the house 
and yard of the Barnard place, stood until a few years 
ago, a long, old house, of the style called a '^ten-footer." 
This house was originally a part of the barracks used by 
the Americans at the siege of Boston, and after the dis- 
lodgment of the British was bought by Mr. James Pierce, 
and removed from its location on Parker's Hill to this 
spot, where it stood till torn down by the late Mr. Bar- 
nard. Some excellent people, now passed away, and 
others still living in our town, were bora beneath its 
roof. 

Mr. Pierce was a native of Dorchester, and a brother 
of Rev. Dr. Pierce, and long a member of the choir of 
the First Church. Whether living in a house which 
had once served the Revolutionary soldiers as a barrack 
inspired him with patriotic fervor or not, we do not know, 
but when he was seventy years of age he walked to Con- 
cord, Mass., and back, on the occasion of the laying of 
the corner-stone of the battle monument, to hear Web- 



24 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

ster's oration, a distance of eighteen miles each way. 
Mr. Pierce died in 1826. His widow, a much beloved 
lady of the olden style, smwived him several years. 

As all the residents on that side of the street were citi- 
zens of Roxbury, they were obliged to send their children 
to its distant schools, and go there also to " Town Meet- 
ing." It was very inconvenient ; and in the year 1844, 
Mr. J. Lyon and other citizens petitioned to be annexed 
to Brookline. The request was granted, and the town 
lines so adjusted as to include the whole village. There 
was no post-office in Brookline until after 1820. It is a 
little singular that the first Brookline post-office was kept 
in Roxbury, at the tailor's shop of Mr. Phippen, for two 
or three years. It was the building next west of the 
Metropolitan Railroad stable and car house. 

After Mr. Phippen, the late Oliver Whyte, Esq., was 
postmaster ; and the office was kept in the grocery store 
of Whyte & Sumner, in the building which was removed 
two or three years ago to make room for Whyte's Block ; 
and here it remained till 1840. Mr. Whyte's successor 
was S. S. C. Jones. Mr. Whyte also held the office of 
Town Clerk for over thirty years. He is still well re- 
membered by all who knew him for his venerable pres- 
ence and courteous manners. And here, in passing, we 
cannot forbear an allusion to his beloved and honored 
widow, who has so recently passed from among us. Long 
will her memory be green in the hearts of all who knew 
her ; and the recollection of her cheerful, unselfish, and 
beautiful old age, cheer and sustain others whose faces 
are turned toward the sunset, and who feel their steps 
growing tremulous as they approach the silent river. 

Another of the venerable houses of the village, fast go- 
ing to ruin, is the old house next east of the brick black- 
smith's shop. It takes something like a flight of imagi- 



OLD FAMILIES. 2o 

nation to recall the time when this house and the one next 
it were attractive abodes ; yet there are many who can 
remember when it was a pleasant family mansion, with 
fresh paint and green blinds, and a grassy yard in front 
inclosed with a neat white fence. 

This house was probably built for Edward Devotion, 
who was a prominent man in the town, in the early part 
of the last century, as he moved hither from what is now 
known as •■' the old Babcock house," and died here in 
1784. 

The house was next occupied b}- Mr. Thomas Brewer, 
who was a blacksmith, and built the brick shop before 
the Revolution. In this old house Mr. Brewer lived for 
many years, and his children intermarried with othei- old 
Brookline families. Now, the very name is extinct in 
Brookline, as of many another old family. One mem- 
ber, a nephew, bearing the name of Thomas Aspinwall 
Brewer, still lives, a resident these many years in Macon, 
Ga. The old house, after the Brewers ceased to occupy 
it, passed into the hands of Mr. Lemuel Foster, who for 
many years carried on blacks mithing in the shop adjoin- 
ing. He built the modern house on Walnut Street op- 
posite Whyte's Block, and resided there several of the 
last years of his life. 

Contemporary with these families was that of the 
Davenports, the elder Mr. D. having married a Miss 
Brewer. The old house at the entrance of Walnut Street 
was built by him, and his long life was passed there. 
Mr. Davenport was a tailor by trade ; and on the site of 
the block next east of the Brookline House, so called, he 
had a store ; at first, a sort of tailor's shop, with small 
wares in the dry goods line for sale. Mr. Davenport 
had no children, but adopted a nephew, who rejoiced in 



26 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

the Scripture name of Jerathmiel, but which was merci- 
fully shortened into " Jerry," for common usage. 

As the old gentleman grew feeble with advancing 
years, the nephew took the shop, which he stocked with 
dry goods and groceries, the tailor's business having been 
taken up by a Mr. Phippen, in the next building east. 
The store was an old gambrel roof building one story 
high, gable end to the street. In this building a singular 
accident occurred which is said to have caused the death 
of the elder Mr. Davenport. At that time, a slaughter- 
house was kept on the Ward place ; and one day an ox, 
which had been struck but not killed, broke loose from 
the slaughter-house, rushed madly up the street and 
dashed into this store, knocking down the old gentleman 
and so injuring him that he never recovered from the 
effects, but died not long after. 

Some years afterward, Mr. Jerry Davenport tore down 
the old store and built a modern two-story one which has 
since been remodeled to its present form. In front of 
the old store were two very large buttonwood trees, a 
pump, and a long watering-trough. Shade trees and 
plenty of fresh water by the way-side for man and beast, 
were a part of the good old customs that should never 
have been allowed to fall into disuse. 

Jerry Davenport, as he was familiarly called, was as 
much one of the village institutions as the old " Punch 
Bowl." His ruddy face, erect figure, short steps, and 
ready jokes are well remembered, and also his twenty- 
seven years' courtship, his slyly-planned marriage so 
quickly detected, and the Calithumpian serenade which 
followed, making night hideous, from Heath Street to 
Corey's Hill. Neither will his sudden death be soon for- 
gotten ; nor the singular circumstance of his body being 
taken from the tomb a day or two after burial, and set 



MR. LYON AND MR. BROWN. 27 

upriglit in the coffin to be photographed. "Ahis! poor 
Yorick." 

The two buildings next west of the old grocery store 
above mentioned were, when new, occupied the one by 
Dr. Downer's family, the doctor having died, and the 
other by Mr. Hancock's family. A generation later there 
Avas intermarriage between these families. About the 
year 1819, two young men, Mr. J. Lyon and Mr. W. H. 
Brown, commenced business in the village — ^Ir. Lyon 
being a wheelwright, and Mr. Brown a harness-maker — 
in a shop w^hich was built for them in the westerly end of 
the old '' Punch Bowl " out-buildings, by Mr. Laughton, 
for many years the proprietor of this famous old tavern. 
When the time came for the destruction of these build- 
ings, these young men removed their business — Mr. 
Brown to a new shop, next to Baker's present paint-shop, 
and Mr. Lyon to the opposite side of the street up the 
yard to the Hancock house, as it was then called, which 
he had hired and was occupying. Subsequently tliis 
house and tlie one now called the ••' Brookline House," 
became Mr. Lyon's property. Here he became widely 
known and well patronized in his business, and earned 
tlie reputation of making wheels that would '^ iieve?' ivear 
out,'' so thoroughly was his work done. Mr. Lyon, after 
many years of faithful toil in Brookline, sold out and re- 
tired to Lancaster, ]Mass.* 

Mr. Brown purchased the house at the foot of Vil- 
lage Lane of a Mr. Barry, a hatter, who was its original 
owner ; and here he spent the remainder of his days. Mr. 
Brown was for many years identified with the First Par- 
ish, as a musician, before an organ was aspired to, and 
contributed his share unfailingly from Sunday to Sunday 
through summer and w^inter, in the stirring melody with 
which the old congregations worshipped. 

» He died in l'\l)ruarv, 1873. 



28 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BKOOKLINE. 

The old house now called the Brookline House has had 
a multitude of tenants, in various useful callings, in its 
better days, it being for several years the location of the 
post-office, under the care of Mr. S. S. C. Jones. 

We will now retrace our steps a short distance, to the 
corner of Brookline Avenue. Before the Mill-dam was 
built, for nearly a hundred years there stood, in the rear 
of the present gas-works a dwelling-house, with a large 
yard in front of it ; east of this, where the roadway is 
now, was a small school-house belonging to " Roxbury 
Precinct." The ground sloped down, till the grassy up- 
land joined the marsh on this side of Muddy River, which 
was then from forty to fifty feet wide. In the rear of 
the dwelling-house above mentioned was a bit of orchard 
or garden place which sloped northward to the marsh, 
which was overflowed with deep water at every tide. 
This house, with all the land adjoining on both sides of 
Muddy River, was in ancient times the property of the 
Griggs family. As early as 1635, the name of George 
Griggs appears in the annals of Mudd}^ River. From 
that time downward the name is constantly found in the 
records of the town. 

On the opposite side of Muddy River, nearly opposite 
Heath Street, stood another ancient house which is barely 
recollected by some of the oldest inhabitants, and this 
was also the property of one of the Griggs families. 
George Griggs, the doctor previously mentioned, inher- 
ited the ancient house on the site of the gas-works, and 
built early in the last century, or at least before the Rev- 
olution, the old house, now for these many years a tene- 
ment house, and known sometimes as the '* Tontine," but 
of late years as " the long house." The western half, 
with the ornamental portico over the front door, was 
afterward added by Dr. Downer. Dr. Griggs did not 



i 



AGREEMENT TO BUILD A DAM. 29 

remove the old house which he liad inherited, and at his 
death it became the property of his daugliter. He lived 
to a great age, and died in the latter part of the last cen- 
tury. 

A curious old paper, dated 1721, contains the auto- 
graph of George Griggs, who if he was the same who 
was afterwards the doctor, must have been quite a young 
man at that time. This paper is a bond or agreement 
between Joseph Craft, George Griggs, and William Heath 
(afterwards the General), to " build a dam ajoyning 
to ^luddy River Bridge." This must have been where 
Washington Street crosses " the creek " or Muddy River, 
now the boundar}^ line separating Brookline from Bos- 
ton, as there was no other bridge over Muddy River at 
that time. The road was low, and tlie tide-water went 
far up the marshes and lowlands. 

The Heath property lay along both marshes and up- 
lands west and south of Heath Street, abutting upon 
wliat is now " the Ward farm," or Brookline Land Com- 
pany's property. Where the Craft lands lay we are not 
informed, except that it included all that lay on both 
sides of the street, for some distance above and below the 
old house on Tremont Street, which bears the date of 
1709 on the chimney. 

George Griggs' part of the agreement read as fol- 
lows : — 

" In order to building a dam ajoyning to muddi River Bridge 
I Gorge Griggs of Roxbiiry do hereby offer and Ingage one 
half rod wide next sd Rode which shall be for Building a dam 
on and that I will pay one pound to the proprietors Besides my 
Equail proportion to aid in Building sd Dam provided the 
Northeron face of said Dam shall be made with a good stone 
wall four feet high so far as is needful to make a Dam." 

'^ February 2i, 17 2\. George Griggs." 



30 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

It would be interesting to know whether this dam was 
ever built, and if so, when it was removed. The mead- 
ows south of the street were formerly flooded, and as be- 
fore stated there Avas water power enough from Willow 
Pond to run a chocolate mill, and afterwards a trip ham- 
mer in a blacksmith's shop at the point where the brook 
flows from the pond. But the dam now surmounted by 
a row of willows, next Willow Pond, is not " ajoyning 
Muddy River Bridge," and we have sought in vain for 
information among the old inhabitants and old documents 
respecting it. The only reason for thinking of this dam 
in connection with Willow Pond, is that William Heath 
agrees in his part of the document that " the stones shall 
be taken out of the west end of my pasture Lying on the 
south side of the Great hill, taking all that is movable 
that I shall appoint." Perhaps the dam was eventually 
built thus far up the meadows, instead of " ajoyning 
Muddy River Bridge." 

Dr. Geo. Griggs left one child, a daughter, who became 
the wife of Capt. Wm. Wyman ; and the house and land 
now occupied by the Gas Company, including some land 
now covered by Brookhne Avenue, some marsh land and 
many acres now on the Boston side of Muddy River, all 
originally belonging to this estate, were long known as 
the Wyman property. The descendants of this branch 
of the Griggs family are still in existence under various 
names. 

Mary Griggs was very beautiful, and quite an heiress. 
A large tract of land belonged to her in Brookline and 
Roxbury, and much more in Brighton, Newton, and Need- 
ham. She married in opposition to the wishes of her 
parents, and lived an uncongenial and most unhappy life. 
It was by marriage with her daughter that Dr. Dow- 
ner became connected with this family and its possessions. 



HOUSES OF CAPTAIN WYMAN AND DR. DOWNER. 31 

The orifrinal Grifi^fjs house, which the old doctor would 
not have removed when it became untenable, was held 
with equal tenacity by Captain AVyman, who would 
neither sell, repair, nor destroy it ; and it stood until it 
leaned over with age and fell piece by piece into the cellar. 
A gale of wind (some say the September gale of 181G) 
finished it. There are persons now living who can re- 
member playing among the beams of it in their child- 
hood. 

When the ^Mill-dam was built and the Brookline branch 
of it opened, in 1821, it cut off Captain Wy man's yard. 
Afterwards a blacksmith's shop was built on the east cor- 
ner of the avenue, which was after a number of years 
moved across the street into the lot now bordering on 
Pond Avenue. After Captain Wyman's death and the 
sale of his property, the old house now owned by the Gas 
Company w^as kept as a tavern for several years, with the 
sign of the Punch Bowl ; but it had little except local 
patronage, and that of the lowest sort, and was finally 
given up. 

The houses of Captain Wyman and Dr. Downer both 
originally set back further from the street than at present, 
as the widenings which have taken place from time to 
time have cut off the yards. Captain Wyman's house 
had cherry trees about it ; and on the east side, before the 
street cut off his ground, there were green grass and 
flower-beds. Many persons can remember when '' the 
Downer house " or ''long house " had a broad green yard 
shaded by tall buttonwoods and two Lombardy poplars, 
while a beautiful elm was between the two houses. The 
whole village was beautifully shaded from one end to the 
other, until within thirty years, with fine large elms and 
buttonwoods. 

Dr. Downer was a skillful surgeon, though a hard, 



32 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

rough man. A story is related of him which proves 
that he was a man of mettle. On the day of the battle 
of Lexington, in returning home toward night he met 
with or overtook a stragghng British soldier in the field. 
They had a hand-to-hand fight, which resulted in the 
doctor's pinning the poor fellow to the ground with his 
bayonet, though he plead for mercy. 

For several years there was a brewery kept in one end 
of this old house, and an old malt-house stood on the 
opposite side of the street. After Dr. Downer's death, 
a Dr. Sylvan came to the village, and took up his resi- 
dence in this same house. He is best remembered as 
" the rain-water doctor," as he professed to cure nearly 
all " the ills that flesh is heir to " by the use of rain- 
water. Like more modern quacks who deal in more 
dangerous, though quite as useless nostrums, he found 
3)lenty of dupes for two or three years ; but at last public 
opinion became so excited against him that he was forced 
to take speedy leave of the town. 

Lyceum Hall was built in 1841 by a stock company of 
Brookline gentlemen, and subsequently passed into the 
hands of Samuel A. Walker, its present owner. The 
post-office was removed here and kept for several years 
by different postmasters, and with the exception of a 
brief interval there has always been a well-kept grocery 
store in this building. 

The hall was for several years quite a fashionable re- 
sort ; and balls, concerts, and Lyceum lectures were well 
sustained here by the elite of Brookline. 

Near the old elm which stood in front of this building 
a skeleton was once dug up in the street. It was found 
in a sitting posture facing the east, and was thought to 
have been an Indian. This was during the excavations 
made by the Boston Water Company for the laying of 



ESTATE OF THOMAS WHITE. 33 

the main pipe in 1 848. The bones, which were much 
broken by the workmen who removed tliem, were de- 
livered to Dr. Edward A. Wild. 

The fact of this solitary skeleton being found under 
this great tree, would seein to indicate that the tree itself 
was of great age, and of all the fine trees whicli once 
ornamented the village this was the only one which was 
allowed to die a natural death, all the rest having: been 
ruthlessly destroyed when in full vigor. 

An old landmark, quite recently removed, was the 
double house between Boylston and Walnut streets, on 
the site of Whyte's block. Its original owner was Mr. 
Thomas White (the family name was originally spelt 
White, but was changed by one branch of the family to 
Whyte). The estate comprised not only all the build- 
ings and land bounded by three streets in the village, 
but also all the meadow, between Boylston Street and 
the north side of White Place, and west from Washing- 
ton Street nearly to Dr. Shurtleff 's line, and much wood- 
land elsewhere. 

The original house was the easterly building, and at 
first fronted on Washington Street ; a grocery store was 
kept for many years in the lower story, and dwelHng 
apartments on the second fioor. A long shed extended 
from the east side of the store as far out as the great elm, 
which was cut down two years ago when the block was 
built. Here was a pump in an excellent well of water. 

The other part of the house extending westward was 
built by Mr. White for his daughter, who resided there 
for a while, but subsequently that branch of the family 
left town, and Mr. White occupied it himself, having let 
the store and apartments over it. 

The store was kept for many years after Whyte and 
Sumner, by Mr. George W. Stearns, the father of Messrs. 



34 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

John G. and George W. Stearns of this town, and who is 
remembered as an honest, kind, and most worthy citizen. 
After Lyceum Hall was built and the grocery opened in 
that building, this old house was remodeled, the shed 
and pump removed, and a large and beautiful yard, 
adorned with shrubbery and vines, occupied the place of 
the old out-buildings. The village probably was in its 
best attire from 1840 to 1855, or thereabouts; the old 
houses were all in good condition, and the yards tastefully 
kept, while the more modern houses were then so new 
as to look fresh and agreeable. In the front or easterly 
part of this house lived for several years Dr. Joseph 
Hobbins, a most skillful English physician, who won the 
warm regard of his numerous patients. He was suc- 
ceeded by Dr. Wm. Dexter, who afterwards removed to 
Jamaica Plain. 

Another physician, a Dr. Barrus, lived for several years 
in the old house called " the Brookline House ; " and in 
more recent times Dr. E. A. Wild, now more widely 
known as " the General," was for a while a boarder in 
the house of Mr. Lyon. 

Our present excellent Dr. Francis was located at the 
entrance to Walnut Street during the first three years 
of his practice in Brookline; so that until within a com- 
paratively few years there has been most of the time 
some physician in the town below the railroad bridge. 

To return to the White estate. After the death of the 
venerable widow, who lived to an advanced age in the 
westerly part of the house, the property was let to any 
tenants who would occupy it without repairs, year after 
year, till some minor heirs should come of age ; and thus 
deteriorating from year to year it became an unsightly 
nuisance, till it was separated into two sections and car- 
ried off, one part up Boylston Street and the other down 
to '' the marsh." 



PL'I5LIC PLAY-GROUNDS. 35 

It would have been a blessing to present and future 
generations if some wealthy and philanthropic person 
had bought the whole area occupied by these buildings 
and the stable and blacksmith shop, and bequeathed it 
to the town to be forever kept open as a public common. 
A breathing space for the neighborhood and a perpetual 
play -ground for the children, in any growing suburb like 
this town, thus secured, would be a nobler donation for 
all cominc: time than a hundred thousand dollars to Har- 
vard College. Is this thing never done by individuals 
because towns might do it but will not ? Whoever pro- 
vides a public play-ground for the boys is a benefactor 
to liis ra(;e. Had ten such little parks in the course of 
a century past been secured to the densely populated 
portions of New York, or three or four to the north part 
of Boston, with grass, shade trees, and drinking fountains 
of pure water, who can doubt that the health, taste, and 
morals of the city would have been better promoted than 
by all the labors of the Tract Society ? * 

Before the railroad was built, or White Place projected, 
there stood on the site of Guild's block two small an- 
cient houses, fronting on Boylston Street. One of these 
must have been one of the oldest houses in town. The 
sills were great oaken timbers from which there ^^'as a 
step doicn into the rooms on crossing the threshold, with- 
out entry or porch. 

It was owned and occupied by ]\Iajor Edward White, 
the father of Thomas White, and ancestor of many 
Brcjokline people of the same name, though spelled differ- 
ently by some descendants. He was major of militia in 
King George's service, and was an honored citizen of this 
town in those old days when Massachusetts was a colony. 

* Since the above was written this town has secured two pieces of ground 
for public play-grounds. 



36 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Major White owned three other houses near the one he 
occupied, all of which long since ceased to exist. One 
stood on the ground where Mr. Royal Woodward's house 
now stands, one where the shop of Beals & Jones stands, 
and one about where De Frees' dry goods store is located. 
The Major finally built and occupied, until his death in 
1769, the house on Washington Street lately occupied by 
the family of our late respected townsman, James Bart- 
lett. We return to the one first spoken of, on the site of 
Guild's block. 

This old house was occupied in Revolutionary times by 
a branch of the Aspinwall family. The other house was 
wholly remodeled about fifty years ago ; and Mr. Elisha 
Stone, so long the undertaker and sexton of the town, 
occupied it for many years. 

Behind this house were two very large trees and a well, 
with a curb and a " sweep," the long pole reaching high 
up into one of the trees. Both these houses, quite re- 
built, are now in White Place, the fourth and fifth on the 
left side. A little steep driveway went down from Boyl- 
ston Street to Washington Street between these houses 
and the row of trees which extended eastward, of which 
now there is but one left, — the old buttonwood at the 
end of the bridge. 

Under this row of trees were the hay-scales, the plat- 
form on a level with Boylston Street, and doors below on 
the north side. These mysterious doors were seldom 
open when we were straying by in our childhood, but 
when they were, we used to pausfe and look at the dark 
recess underneath from the opposite side of the street 
with something of the same feelings with which we 
might now approach the portals of the Mammoth Cave. 

The meadow which we have before alluded to, wliicli 
is now divided by the railroad, and includes White Place 



THE BROOK. 37 

and Kerrigan Place and all the houses on the north side 
of Bojdston Street from Guild's Block to the last men- 
tioned place, was, until about the time the railroad was 
projected, a green and open field. The beautiful brook 
which is now walled up alongside the railroad, then 
w^ound through grass and wild flowers at " its own sweet 
will," and coming out from the meadow through two 
arched openings in a low stone wall it spread itself along 
beside the street for a space at least twenty feet wide 
and more than twice as long, and then flowed under the 
road through a broad culvert. On the east side, where 
it came out, exactly where Malioney's building stands, it 
was covered by the engine-house which the town built, 
after the old one at the foot of Walnut Street was torn 
down. This house was destroyed by an incendiary fire 
more than twenty years ago. The brook as it stretched 
along beside the road over a stony bottom, was clear and 
not very deep, and its sparkling water invited the great 
droves of cattle which came from Brio-hton on market 
days ; and few drivers were so heartless as to hurry them 
through without allowing them to drink their fill. Often 
in our childhood we paused to note the eagerness with 
which they w^ould plunge in at the upper end of this 
grand watering-place and their reluctance to leave it at 
the other. The railroad bridge and the street covers all 
the space the brook thus occupied, and the drivew^ay to 
the depot is where the old roadway used to be. 

The meadow before alluded to included a piece of 
grassy upland on the north side where now is White 
Place ; and here was one ancient little cottage, a quaint 
affair, half chimney and fire-place ; it sat far back from 
the street and was approached by a grassy path through 
a turn-stile. This w^as one of Major Edward White's 
houses, and like the one he occupied had a well with a 



38 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BEOOKLINE. 

sweep under an elm tree. It was whitewashed and half 
covered with woodbine. When White Place was planned 
this picturesque old cottage was removed and remodeled, 
its enormous fire-place and chimney furnishing bricks 
enough to build a basement story ; and it now stands, a 
commonplace affair, in the rear of Mahoney's building 
in front of the depot. 

The brook in those days having plenty of room, often 
turned the meadow into a temporary lake, without in- 
truding into cellars and basements as of late, and in win- 
ter it made a fine skating-place for the boys. Alas, for 
the necessity which has turned this once beautiful stream 
into a common sewer. '' To what base uses do we come 
at last ! " 



THE DEPOT GROUND. 39 



CHAPTER III. 

THE DEPOT GROUND. THE DAVIS ESTATE. SAMBO. DANA 

TAVERN. TOM COOK. THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 

ON the spot where the railroad depot now stands, and 
on the vacant ground nortli of it, formerly stood 
the large square house now in the rear of the Colonnade 
Building. This house was built some time in the latter 
part of the last century by i\Ir. John Howe, father of the 
late John Howe, Esq., of this town. For many years 
Mr. Howe had a tannery south of his house, but he sub- 
sequently gave up this business and went into the lumber 
trade in Boston. The tannery was removed, and a gar- 
den occupied the ])lace of it, until the place was invaded 
by the railroad. 

The house stood upon a high bank shaded by large 
elm trees, of which the only vestige remaining is the for- 
lorn stump covered with woodbine, in front of the depot.* 
It was a very pleasant situation, and through the garden 
a small branch of the brook flowed. Here w^ere fine fruit 
trees, and currant and gooseberry bushes. 

The railroad tracks, the bare space south of them, and 
a part of Mahoney's building, cover the site of this gar- 
den, running back to where the turn-table is located. In 
front of the house the bank projected beyond the fence 
into the street, and as it was high and narrow on the top, 
outside the fence, no child passing by could resist the temp- 
tation to go up one side and down the other. A clump 

* Even this has since been removed. 



40 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE 

of wild rose bushes grew on the top, outside the fence, 
and lilacs w^ithin. So a narrow little path was worn there, 
year after year, by many childish feet that have since grown 
old in treading our streets, or perchance wandered into 
steeper ways uncrowned Avith roses. This bank was re- 
moved to widen the sidewalk many years ago. 

After Mr. Howe's day the house was let for so many 
years to a Mr. Marshall, that it became known as "the 
Marshall house " for a long time. Since then it has had 
countless tenants, among whom were the late David R. 
Griggs, ^Ir. Harrison Fay, and Mr. Twitchell, all of whom 
occupied it while their own houses were being erected. 

The house was moved to its present location when the 
railroad was laid out. The alterations in that vicinity have 
been so great, that could any former resident of Brookline, 
who had not seen the place since the railroad and the 
bridge were built, be brought unexpectedly to a view of 
it, he would not have the faintest idea of his whereabouts. 

On April 24, 1847, the railroad was completed to this 
village and opened for travel. On that day, by the gen- 
erous courtesy of the directors of the Boston and Worcester 
Railroad, fourteen trains of cars were run free, and more 
than two thousand persons passed over the road. No 
accident occurred even of the slightest nature. 

An account of the opening was written by S. A. 
Walker, then a resident of Brookline, for the " Boston 
Journal," in his usual glow^ing stj^le. 

Mr. B. W. Hobart, who was then well known to the 
people of Brookline, was appointed conductor, an appoint- 
ment which gave general satisfaction, and which office 
he filled till appointed to a more lucrative situation on 
the long route from Boston to Springfield. The rail- 
road was not continued beyond the depot in the village 
for several years, and therefore there being no necessity 



THK OLD COTTON HOUSE. 41 

for a bridge, the old road and the wateriiig-pkice beside 
it remained as we have before described it, a few years 
longer, excepting that White Place was begun, by the re- 
moval there of three houses which formerly stood below 
tlie depot. 

The land north of the depot on the east side of the 
street as far north as Aspinwall Avenue, had not a single 
house upon it until within forty years, except the ancient 
house between Andem and Harrison places, nearly oppo- 
site the Catholic Church. 

Probably few people among the present generation 
know anything of the great age and interesting history 
of this house, as, though in apparently good condition, it 
is one of the three oldest house? in town, dating back at 
least two hundred years. 

In the earl}' days, when this town, then called " Muddy 
River Hamlet," was apportioned out among certain resi- 
dents of Boston, a large tract was assigned to the Rev. 
John Cotton, the second minister of Boston. This in- 
cluded all the land from INIuddy River as far west as 
where the estate of Mr. George B. Blake is now, and 
perhaps even farther ; bordering on what is now Har- 
vard Street, then called the Newtown Road (Cambridge 
being called Newtown), and on what is now Walnut 
Street, called for many years "the Sherburne Road." 
This great tract of land the Reverend John Cotton prob- 
ably never used for aught else than a cow pasture, as 
there is no evidence that he ever made this place his resi- 
dence ; but he left this whole property to his heirs, Row- 
land and Thomas Cotton. Deacon Thomas Cotton built 
the ancient house now standing, above mentioned, about 
two hundred years ago, and subsequently sold it to Dea- 
con Ebenezer Davis, and took his departure to the then 
wilds of Connecticut. Deacon Davis was the son of 

•4 



42 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Ebenezer and Rachel Davis, who emigrated from Wales 
to this country in the latter part of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, and settled in Roxbury. The parents died young, 
and left the farm to their son, whose only sister, Rachel, 
kept his house, though but a child of thirteen. Subse- 
quently Mr. Davis married a sister of Moses White of 
Brookline, and Moses White himself married Rachel. 
With this house was also transferred to Deacon Davis all 
the land from Harvard Street to Walnut Street, as far 
west as Cypress Street and School Street, though School 
Street was only a lane, and Cypress Street not even that. 
Whether Major EdAvard White, spoken of previously, 
purchased of the Cotton heirs, or of Deacon Davis, we 
have not been able to ascertain, but he was contem- 
porary with the first two generations of Davises, and his 
land was a corner of this great estate. Deacon Ebenezer 
Davis had a son of the same name, and this son still 
another, so that the name was perpetuated through three 
generations in this same house. The next descendant 
who inherited the homestead was Robert S. Davis, the 
father of the present bookseller of that name, now a resi- 
dent in Cypress Place. 

During his lifetime, about seventy years ago, the house 
was thoroughly renovated and repaired, and the immense 
chimneys taken down, by which ample space was ob- 
tained for a pantry and bedroom. It would seem as if 
it must have been necessary for every man to own a 
brick-yard in those ancient times, when as many bricks 
were put into one stack of chimneys as would build a 
small modern house. Where they found clay enough, 
workmen enough, and time enough to accomplish such 
solid results, must forever remain among the mysteries. 

Besides the chimneys which were rebuilt, this old 
house had also another built up from the ground, wholly 



DEACON EBENEZER DAVIS. 43 

outside of the house, like a buttress, so that only the great 
fire-place opened into a room, in the style still to be seen 
in Maryland and Virginia. These chimneys were all 
laid in clay, instead of lime, and became unsafe as it 
crumbled with age, and when their reconstruction became 
necessary other alterations were involved, and the but- 
tress-like chimney was dispensed with. Behind, and a 
little south of the house, was a large, long barn wliich in 
comparatively recent times was divided, one half being 
used to build the house with, which is now the next in 
the rear of the Davis house and occupied by ^Ir. Tyler, 
the other half was moved near to the depot, and was 
lately torn down. On the southeast, the brook now the 
sewer, formed the boundary of the orchard, and was 
so excellent a fishing place for smelts, that as we have 
been informed by one who well remembers, it was not 
uncommon for half a bushel of these little fishes to be 
taken there in a morning before breakfast. 

Deacon Ebenezer Davis was, according to all accounts, 
an excellent farmer, and his estate was adorned with splen- 
did peach and cherry orchards, to say nothing of apple 
trees in great variety. He also ventured upon an experi- 
ment in horticulture, for those times, and raised the first 
musk-melons that were ever offered for sale in Boston 
market. It was a success, and gave him such a notoriety 
that his portrait was painted ivith a musk-melon under his 
arm. The picture was subsequently carried to England, 
where it is still preserved in a collection. Under it is 
written, " An American Farmer." A unique ornament 
would the portrait of this ancient farmer of Brookline 
be for our Public Library, or our Town Hall. In the 
rear of the old deacon's house and barn was a little house 
for negro quarters in the old days when "slavery existed 
in Massachusetts ; and one old negro named Sambo, fig- 



44 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

ured for many years in the experiences of this household. 
The deacon resigned his office in the First Church in 1770, 
and died in 1775, at the age of seventy-two. Sambo con- 
tinued to live in the family with the son and grandson of 
the deacon. There are many amusing anecdotes of his 
sayings and doings still extant among the descendants of 
the family. He seems to have been one of those curious 
combinations of wit and stupidity which are occasionally 
to be met with. 

His master gave him a patch of ground to plant and 
cultivate as he pleased for his own profit. Sambo planted 
a goodly supply of beans, and when they came up, in 
true bean style, Sambo went to work, and with infinite 
labor re-set the whole of them with the beans under 
ground where he thought they belonged. He was the 
butt of so man}^ jokes for this exploit that he was rather 
sensitive upon the subject of beans afterwards. 

But Sambo had all the laugh on his own side some- 
times. Some blacksmiths, one first of April, seeing 
Sambo coming along the road from Boston, walking be- 
side his team, threw a hot horseshoe into the road, ex- 
pecting to find a victim. But the old fellow saw it fall 
and knew the joke was meant for him, so he quietly took 
his shovel from his load and tossed the horseshoe upon 
the top, and went on his way chuckling over the fact that 
they '' did n't fool 'dis darkey dat time." 

At another time this old servant accompanied the dea- 
con to Boston where he called to pay a lawyer who had 
transacted some business for him. Mr. Davis overpaid the 
law^^er, Avho, greatly to Sambo's indignation, refused to 
return any change, saying that he never returned money 
in such cases. There seemed to be no help for it and 
the matter was dropped, but Sambo revolved the subject 
over and over in his thick head, and " bided his time." 



SAMBO. 45 

Some months afterwards he carried a load of melons to 
market, and as he stood retailing them on the street who 
should appear as a purchaser but this very lawyer. He 
bought a water-melon, worth ninepence, and gave Sambo 
a dollar, which he serenely pocketed. " Where 's my 
change? " asked the lawyer, seeing it was not forthcom- 
ing. 

^^ Hi ! " said Sambo, " you gib massa no change, I gib 
you none," and he brought home the dollar. 

Sambo lived in celibacy, and died when more than 
ninety years of age. It was winter when he died, and the 
ground was covered with deep snow. His body was car- 
ried to the Brookline Cemetery upon a pung, and laid 
near his old master. 

Long afterwards, when the old chimneys were taken 
down, a stout silver spoon, marked with a quaint old " E. 
D." was found, with the handle bent double, and Sambo's 
agency in the matter was strongly hinted at by those who 
knew his faults as well as his virtues. " Requiescat " 
Sambo. 

The third Ebenezer Davis who occupied the old house, 
married into the Aspinwall family, and had a son born 
there of the same name, who many years ago removed to 
the State of Maine, where he still lives. 

Another son, I. Sumner Davis, was a minister, and 
still another, Thomas Aspinwall Davis, was for some 
time Mayor of Boston. Of him more will be said here- 
after. 

The son Robert Sharp Davis, was named for two an- 
cestors of the same name on the maternal side, who had 
distinguislied themselves in the old French and Indian 
wars. He married a granddaughter of one of our old 
Revolutionary patriots, Phinehas Stearns, of Watertown, 
who was one of the famous Boston tea-party. The son of 



46 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

this marriage, who bore the name of P. Stearns Davis, in 
honor of his phicky old ancestor, was born in the old 
house, and brought up in Brookline schools. He was 
sent elsewhere to finish his education, and then returned 
to his native town till his marriage, after which he re- 
sided in Cambridge. 

When the Rebellion broke out, the blood of the brave 
old heroes burned in his veins and he could not rest. 
Day and night the conviction of duty was upon him, till 
finally a reluctant consent was wrung from those who loved 
him best, and he left home and a circle of devoted friends, 
for the battle-fields of Virginia. His honorable record as 
Colonel of the Massachusetts 39th Regiment prepared 
the way for his promotion, and he was soon distinguished 
as a Brigadier-general. On the 11th of July, 1864, he was 
killed by a rebel shell in front of Petersburg, and his 
distinguished name was added to the list of heroes and 
martyrs for liberty. On the day he took his farewell of 
his aged mother, she said to him, " My son, how can you 
want to go ? " He replied, " Mother, if I should live to 
see the end of this war without going and doing my whole 
duty for my country, I should never rest." And he went 
with her blessing. 

His venerable mother still lives among us in an hon- 
ored and beautiful old age.* May the memory of what 
he was, ever be the consolation of all who are bereft of 
his loving care. 

Another descendant of Deacon Ebenezer Davis, who 
deserves honorable mention, was Mr. Isaac Davis, born in 
the old house, and a resident there till his early man- 
hood, when he took up his abode in Roxbury, on land 
which he inherited from his father, and to which he added 
by purchase. 

* This much beloved lady died May 4, 1874, at the age of nearly 89 years. 



MR. BKNJAMIN DAVIS. 47 

This worthy fanner was Town Treasurer of Roxbury 
for thirty years, and Representative to the State Legisla- 
ture for seventeen years. Miss Sarah Davis, a missionary 
to Burmah, a sister of General Davis, also born in the 
old house, will be mentioned in connection witli tiie Bap- 
tist Church. 

A few years after the death of Mr. Robert S. Davis, 
Senior, the family mansion, and what remained of the 
land near it which had not been disposed of to other pur- 
chasers, was sold by the heirs to Mr. Moses Andem, who 
resided here for several years. 

After Mr. Andem's death, the house was occupied by 
Captain Isaac Taylor, till his present handsome residence 
was completed. Until this time the spacious yard in 
front of the old house remained ornamented with trees 
and shrubbery, and a straight gravel walk, bordered with 
the stiffest of fir trees, led from the street to the front 
door. Soon after, the two houses which now stand in 
front of it were built, and the old house was quite ex- 
cluded from a view of the street. 

From that time to the present it has been occupied by 
various families, two at a time. 

We will now cross the street to follow another branch 
of the Davis family. A son of Deacon Ebenezer Davis, 
born 1765, by the name of Benjamin, inherited as his 
portion of his father's large domain, all the land on the 
west side of Washington Street, beginning at the north 
side of White Place, and extending on that side as far as 
Cypress Street. He had built for his own use the house 
long known as " Mr. l^enjamin Davis's old house," and 
married Elizabeth Baker of Roxbury, in 1791. On the 
opposite side he owned all the land from where Ran- 
ter's Building stands to School Street, extending across 
from Harvard Street to Wasliington Street. This was a 
high hill sloping down to the three streets above named. 



48 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

As new residents came to town one lot after another 
was sold off it, which we shall allude to hereafter. 

This Mr. Davis, like his father, was a farmer. South 
of his house, where the shop of the Kenricks now stands, 
was an immense elm tree, said to be as large as the fa- 
mous Aspinwall elm. This tree was cut down, sorely to 
the regret of Mrs. Davis, because it shaded a desirable 
garden spot. Afterwards a row of elms which sprang 
from the seed of the old tree, grew along beside the wall ; 
and one which Mrs. Davis set out with her own hands 
grew to be the great elm which was cut down, on the 
corner of Davis Place, when the block of stores was to be 
built. The tree was not only the chief ornament of the 
neighborhood, but a grateful shade in a hot and dusty 
place, and its destruction was a public loss. 

On the piece of ground above alluded to, was set out 
a peach orchard, which remained until within the recol- 
lection of the present Mr. B. B. Davis, his son, who with 
his own hands cut down the old peach trees, some of 
which were a foot in diameter, and over thirty feet in 
height. The same gentleman, to whom we are indebted 
for much valuable information, informs us that in his 
school-days there Avas such an abundance of peaches of 
fine quality raised in Brookline, that the bo3^s had a 
standing permission to go into the orchards daily and 
carry off all they could eat, loading their caps and pock- 
ets, and that even then the hogs were turned in to de- 
vour the quantities of fruit which were left on the 
ground. 

If by the result of an}^ subtle chemical analysis of the 
soil, a happy experiment in horticulture could produce 
such an abundance again, there could possibly be found 
enough of the " rising generation " to take care of them 
all without calling in the swine. 



Dana's tavern. 49 

The first Benjamin Davis died suddenly wliilci in the 
prime of life, of lockjaw, caused by a cold taken by sit- 
ting upon tlie ground to rest during over-fatigue from 
mowing. His son, of the same name, occupied the house 
which he inherited ; and thus three generations of the 
same name occupied this house, as was the case with the 
one on the east side of the street. 

In Revolutionar}^ times, a part of a company of Con- 
necticut soldiers, who assisted in the siege of Boston, were 
quartered in this house, much to the discomfort of the 
excellent housekeeper, who used to tell in after years of 
their cutting up their rations of pork on her front stairs. 
The soldiers were subsequently removed to the barracks 
on Parker's Hill. 

A few years since ]Mr. Davis removed to his present 
residence, and the old homestead was sold. 

Mr. Davis is too well known to need mention in this 
place ; yet we trust one may allude, without apology, to 
his services as a selectman of the town ; and he will ev^er 
be identified in the annals of the Handel and Haydn 
Society as one of its most enthusiastic members during 
the greater part of his long and useful life. During fifty 
years, Mr. Davis was at his stand in Faneuil Hall Mar- 
ket three hundred times a year. 

In this neighborhood there stood another ancient house, 
when as yet the houses of the two Davises, on either side, 
were the only other dwellings fronting on the Square. 

This building stood upon the site of a part of Banter's 
building. Hunting's grocery store,* and Mrs. West's house. 
It was known as '' Dana's Tavern," and was kept for 
many years by Mr. Jonathan Dann. It was a large gam- 
brel-roofed house, with a row of sheds and out-buildings 
behind it reaching nearly across from Washington Street 
to Harvard Str(^et. 

* Nu\v Howe's furniture store. 



50 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Tliis tavern was a great resort for country produce 
dealers, but never had as large a local patronage, or en- 
tertained as much fashionable company as the Punch 
Bowl, — as the latter had a large dancing-hall, which the 
Dana Tavern had not. 

The easterly end of this building had a shop attached 
to it, in which Mr. Peter Parker, the original owner of 
the building, had a shop in which he worked at shoe- 
making. His son, John Parker, born in that house, be- 
came a very wealthy man, and his name is still perpetuated 
by " Parker's Hill," on which he lived, and '' Parker 
Street," which passed his house. He held important and 
very successful contracts under the United States govern- 
ment during the second war with England. 

There is an amusing incident connected with the old 
tavern which may not come amiss in this part of our 
record. There was a notorious thief, well known in 
Brookline and the adjoining towns, by the name of Tom 
Cook. He had many eccentricities, among which was a 
habit of stealing from the rich to give to the poor. In 
horse-stealing he was specially expert. He was frequent- 
ly arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to short terms 
of imprisonment at " the Castle " (now Fort Indepen- 
dence), that being then the common prison for all of- 
fenders in Boston and vicinity. 

On one occasion Tom stole a goose from a country- 
man's wagon, which was under the shed, at Dana's 
Tavern ; not, however, with generous designs for any 
of his poor proteges^ but for the satisfying of his own 
appetite. But as an uncooked goose would be about as 
unsatisfactory as no goose at all, Tom resorted to the old 
school-house — school not being in session — to cook and 
devour it. The school-house was in what is now School 
Street, at the corner of Prospect Street, then concealed 



Dana's tavern. 51 

from observation on the east by a high hill. Tlui nearest 
house was the great square old house on Harvard Street, 
which was removed two or three years ago from the 
corner of Harvard Avenue. It was occupied by Esquire 
Sharp, the School Committee and Justice of the Peace. 
The Squire with his sharp eye on the interests of the 
town, discovered a smoke arising from the school-house 
chimney, and as '' where there is smoke there must be 
lire," he proceeded to reconnoitre, and caught Tom in 
the very act of roasting the goose. Laying the strong 
hand of the law upon him, he made him confess where 
he got the fowl, and march back with it, under his own 
escort, to the tavern ; and before the assembled inmates 
of the bar-room, gave him his choice to take, then and 
there, a public whijjpiuf/, or be tried and sent to the Cas- 
tle. Tom considered briefly, and decided to take the 
whipjnng. 

The countrymen agreed, and flourished their long 
whips upon him with such vigor, that Tom's appetite 
for roast goose was abated in a summary manner, and 
the punishment proved more effectual than his various 
sojourns at the Castle. 

The same causes which tended to reduce the " Punch 
Bowl," caused the Dana Tavern to be discontinued as a 
public-house, and for several years it was let as a tene- 
ment house. 

It was destroyed by fire in January, 181G. It was in 
the night ; and Benjamin Bradley, afterward the owner 
of '' Bradley's Hill," saved the life of a woman and child 
by mounting a long ladder and taking them from an 
upper window. 

Let us hope this good deed was set down to his account. 

In front of the old Dana Tavern, on ground that is 
now Harvard Square, there stood for many years the 



52 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BEOOKLINE. 

only hay-scales in the place. (This was prior to the days 
of those alluded in the previous pages.) These were 
placed there by Dr. Aspinwall, Senior. They presented 
almost exactly the appearance of a gallows, there being 
a vertical beam with a horizontal one extending from it. 
To weigh a load with this clumsy contrivance the horses 
were detached, the wheels chained, and the wagon and 
its contents lifted bodily off the ground by the use of 
fifty-six pound w^eights successively applied till the result 
was reached. How they ascertained the fractional parts 
of fifty-six pounds we are not informed. This apparatus 
may have been useful but could hardly have been orna- 
mental to the neighborhood. 

With the exception of the hay-scales the ground for- 
merly occupied by the tavern and out-buildings remained 
vacant for several years after the fire. It Avas owned by 
the heirs of Jonathan Dana, one of whom was a minor 
child living in Maine, the other a youth following the 
sea. The property was of course under guardianship. 

In the year 1827, the few Baptists living in Brookline 
began to hold meetings in private houses in this neigh- 
borhood. There had been for several years before, 
gatherings of persons calling themselves " New Lights," 
who mostly met in the upper part of the town, who 
drew in all who for any reason had lost interest in the 
old or First Church. There were many shades of belief 
among these people, some of whom came out on the 
strong ground of Orthodox}^, and connected themselves 
with the churches of that faith at Brighton or Roxbury, 
while others became Baptists, and joined the church of 
Father Grafton at Newton, or the churches at Roxbury 
or Cambridge. 

The meetings held by the Baptists were soon too fully 
attended to be accommodated in private houses, and they 



THK BAPTIST CHAPEL. 63 

bo<^an to tliink of securing a piece of ground on Avliich 
to build a chapel. 

But the spirit of the times was averse to religious 
toleration, and the old animus which drove Quakers 
behind carts in Boston, and banished Baptists to Rhode 
Island, had not wholly died out ; and an opposition was 
raised which aimed to prevent the success of the enter- 
prise, if possible. 

The principal movers in the Baptist interest were Dea- 
cons Elijah and Timothy Corey, Deacon Thomas (iriggs, 
David Coolidge, and Elijah Corey, Junior. This com- 
mittee were desirous of securing the land owned by the 
Dana heirs, and after some trouble and a visit to East- 
port, finally succeeded in hiring on a three years' lease 
that part of the land which belonged to the heir in Elaine. 
They in the mean time had their timber got out for a 
chapel, and all ready to put together, hoping that when 
the other heir returned from sea they should be able to 
get possession of the remainder of the land. 

The chapel was raised in the early part of 1828, and 
occupied in j\Iarch as a place of worship, greatly to 
the surprise of the opposition, who little imagined how 
energetically their Baptist neighbors were at work. It 
scarcely seems credible, yet it is true, that a wealthy 
gentleman then residing in town, whose zeal for his own 
sect was more active than his love for his neighbor, actu- 
ally sent his carriage and horses regularly to the door 
of the Baptist Chapel, at evening service, to convey to 
Brighton to the Congregational meetings, any who could 
be induced to go. 

In the mean time the heir returned from sea, and the 
guardian purchased for himself the much desired residue 
of the land. 

On the 5th of June, 1828, thirtv-six individuals, eleven 



54 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

males and twenty -five females, were publicly organized 
as a church. The congregation at once became so large 
that their little new chapel would not hold them, and 
steps were soon taken to build a church. The five gentle- 
men above mentioned agreed to build it at their own 
expense, and each give a certain percentage of the whole 
cost, whatever it might be. 

Deacon E. Corey pledged forty per cent.. Deacon T. 
Corey and Deacon Griggs each twenty per cent., and 
the others each ten. The church was built at a cost of 
about six thousand dollars ; a few friends who had moved 
in gave from ten to a hundred dollars each, and the work 
was paid for. But there was no room for sheds, and 
hardly room enough to walk around the church on the 
west side, on their own ground which they had now 
bought. 

At last the owner of the much desired piece of land, 
seeing that the church was built, signified his willingness 
to sell for a sufficient bonus. 

Deacon Corey offered fifty bushels of corn, in addition 
to what was asked in money, and his offer was accepted. 
The land was secured, the sheds built, a strip west of 
them now in Mr. Panter's j-ard was sold to Mr. Holden, 
the next owner on that side, and thenceforward the Bap- 
tist ship sailed in smooth water. 

The meeting-house was dedicated November 20, 1828. 
But the little chapel stood in front of it, and the gallows- 
like hay-scales in front of that. The hay-scales were 
bought and taken down, the chapel moved to the rear of 
the church and altered over into a parsonage ; it still 
stands with additions and improvements, next south of 
the present church. The green in front of the church 
was fenced and planted with trees, and soon became a 
very attractive spot. 



Till-: liATTIST MEETING-HOUSE. 55 

The meeting-house had a brick basement for a vestry, 
partially under ground, and was entered by a door from 
the side next Harvard Street. 

The building was painted white on the outside, l)ut 
inside it was unpainted and uncarpeted, except the pulpit 
and front of the gallery. The pulpit being white, had 
a green blind behind it as a back- ground, and the read- 
ing-desk was draped with red damask in folds which were 
hung with tassels like a fringe. The counting of these 
tassels beguiled many a weary juvenile who could not 
appreciate the strong doctrine on which the seniors were 
fed. The gallery, on the southerly end over the vesti- 
bule, was occupied by a volunteer choir, of which Mr. 
David Coolidge was for many years the leader, while his 
daughter was " head singer," among the female voices. 
The instrumental music was furnished by a bass-viol, or 
sometimes a violin, in the hands of an eccentric old man 
by the name of Humphrey, and irreverent urchins were 
only too ready to laugh at the sawings and scrapings of 
what they termed '' Daddy Humphrey's fiddle." 

The house was heated by a square box-stove, the 
funnels extending over each aisle and hung with little 
tin pails to catch the drip of the steam generated by the 
wood fire. 

In the vestibule hung a frame in which from time to 
time the " publishments " of parties about to marry were 
hung for three weeks, to be read by all who chose to 
avail themselves of the interesting information. 

In the year 1830, the Rev. Joseph Driver was settled 
as the first pastor. For some reason his stay was short, 
and he was succeeded the following year by Rev. Joseph 
A. Warne, an Englishman, who was said to be "• mighty 
in the Scriptures." 

Sixty-five persons were added to the church during the 



56 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

six years of his pastoral labors. Mr. Warne had an ac- 
quaintance, an Englishman, living in another town, who 
was something of an organ-builder, and he was very de- 
sirous that his friend should have an opportunity to exer- 
cise his skill on behalf of his parish. Accordingly he 
built a small organ (which proved to be a miserable af- 
fair), and Mrs. Warne was organist. Mr. Humphrey's 
bass-viol was banished to the vestry, where he had abun- 
dant opportunity to use it. This old man invariably car- 
ried with him to church a good-sized round bundle, in a 
red pocket-handkerchief. It lay upon the seat beside 
him and was carried away by him to his home after ser- 
vice. What it contained was a mystery to the young- 
sters which was never explained. 

Mr. Warne was an irritable man and very abrupt in 
speech. On one occasion Avhen his friend's organ gave a 
prolonged squeal instead of the desired harmony, he called 
out to his wife across the church, " Emma, stop that or- 
gan ! It makes me nervous ! " 

A lady parishioner entered one Sunday, and as there 
were others behind her whom she expected would follow, 
she left the door open. She had not reached her pew be- 
fore she was startled by Mr. Warne, calling out sharply, 
" Go back and shut that door I " an injunction hardly 
conducive to devotional feelings we should judge. 

On another occasion, not in church, he told his ex- 
cellent senior deacon, who used to sing in the vestry 
"with the spirit and the understanding also," that his 
singing always reminded him " of a pig under a gaUr 

Mr. Warne's soundness of doctrine was thought by 
many to be a sufficient offset for his lack of '' the sweet 
charities " and social amenities, but not all his mental 
acuteness, or vigor in expounding the Scriptures could 
make him popular with the young people, and after 
nearly six years, his connection with the church ceased. 



BAPTIST CLERGYMEN. 57 

He was succeeded the same year, 1837, by Rev. Wm. 
H. Sliailer, now of Portland. Mr. Shailer was pastor of 
the church sixteen years and Avas much beloved. The 
next year after Mr. Shailer's ministry began, the attend- 
ance became so large that it was found necessary to en- 
large the church edifice. It was raised higlier, several 
new pews were added, a mahogany pulpit took the place 
of the pine one, the whole house was painted, inside and 
out, the aisles were carpeted, a new organ bouglit, the 
damp and mouldy vestry was enlarged and made lighter 
and dryer, a furnace was put in, and altogether the place 
assumed a modern air. 

In February, 1 854, Mr. Sliailer having been repeatedly 
invited to Portland, resigned his charge here, and re- 
moved to that place. Under liis ministry the churcli here 
received two hundred and four additional members. 

In ^Ir. Warne's day the rite of baptism was at first 
administered in the open air in the salt water at the lower 
end of the village. AVhere Muddy River passes under 
the street, now narrowed to a scanty stream, and almost 
covered with the houses of the Irish population, was then 
a broad, clear stream, or '' creek," as it was generally 
called, at certain states of the tide, convenient for this 
purpose. 

Some large flat stones were arranged as stepping stones 
for the minister and candidates. 

The same spirit that would have prevented the build- 
ing of the church if possible, prompted some ill-disposed 
person to remove the principal stone one Sabbath, when 
a baptism was to take place, and the result was that Mr. 
Warne took a deep step into the stream unexpectedly 
and somewhat ungracefully. He recovered himself, how- 
ever, and the ceremony proceeded, but after that a bap- 
tistery was provided in the meeting-house. 

5 



58 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

During Mr. Shailer's ministry the church frequently 
resorted to the beautiful bend of Charles River always 
known as the "bathing place." Since then, Jamaica 
Pond has been the favorite resort for open air baptism, 
but this is less frequently practiced of late years than for- 
merly. 

The bend of the river alluded to above was bordered 
by a pebbly beach, half screened by overhanging trees 
and clustering bushes on either side of the farm road by 
which it was approached. The trees and shrubs are now 
gone and the whole place for half a mile is covered with 
a network of railroad tracks. 



i 



HARRISON PLACE. 59 



CHAPTER IV. 

HARRISON PLACi:. ST. MARY's CHURCH. LINDEN PLACE 

THOMAS A. DAVIS. ASPINWALL AVENUK, OR, " PERRY'S 

LANE." 

T)EFORE proceeding further up Harvard Street in our 
^^ description, it will be necessary to turn aside a lit- 
tle and mention briefly the " Places," leading off from it 
along the easterly side. 

Harrison Place was originally nothing but a cart-road 
leading across the Davis farm by the old house and barn, 
down to the marsh which was then undreamed of for any 
other use than the production of salt hay. 

Could one of the old proprietors awaken from a sort of 
Rip Van Winkle sleep and see the roads and dwellings 
and people that now cover the once green acres where 
the tide rose and fell, and the wild ducks swam, and the 
sea-gulls came sailing in on their white wings before a 
storm, he would be quite as amazed as at any othef dis- 
covery his astonished eyes might make. 

Nearly down the slope of the upland this cart-road led 
to a beautiful, clear spring of cold water which was over- 
shadowed by a great oak tree. 

Under its wide-spreading branches the men of the vil- 
lage used to assemble on '' Election Day " and '' Fourth 
of July," to celebrate and make merry with unlimited 
quantities of punch. There are people among us, not 
very old, who speak of having seen ^' a bushel of lemon 
rinds " at a time as the debris of such a festivity. 



60 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The attractions in Boston were not so great as in more 
modern times ; no long steam-trains rolled shrieking and 
smoking into the city on holidays, swarming with their 
living freight, neither did crowded horse-cars afford their 
patrons the opportunity to pay for the privilege of hang- 
ing up by a leather strap during a four miles' ride. 

On the contrary, Boston parties of Masons in regalia, 
or truckmen in their white frocks, with bands of music, 
and sometimes a military escort, used to make equestrian 
trips through Brookline, stopping often at the " Punch 
Bowl," and returning through Brighton and Cambridge 
on Independence days. So those who stayed at home 
solaced themselves with the sights that came out to be 
seen, and vented their patriotism in punch and gunpow- 
der under the old oak. The boys found it a favorite re- 
sort in their games, and the hay-makers in summer noons 
rested under its shade. 

But the punch drinking proved the bane of many wlio 
indulged in it, and one of the proprietors not liking the 
idea of having that sort of rendezvous on his place, cut 
down the grand old tree, and ended the sport of those 
who frequented it. 

After the farm was sold, the first house built upon a 
lot purchased from it, was the one formerly owned and 
occupied by the late David R. Griggs, now (1871) owned 
by Dr. Lowe. Mr. Griggs occupied the house till a few 
years before his death. He was so long identified with 
the neighborhood, and so much beloved as a superintend- 
ent of the Baptist Sabbath-school for many years, that 
he will be well remembered and long missed by all con- 
nected with that society and living in that vicinity ; and 
hosts of other warm friends will ever cherish his memory 
with tenderness. 

Mr. Griggs' house was built in 1833, but the road-way 



ANDEM PLACE. — CHURCH OF ST. MARY. 61 

was not opened to its present length till 1837, wlien the 
house now occupied by Mrs. Phillips was built for Mr. 
Luther Thayer, who soon died, and the house was pur- 
chased by Mr. Mellen, who occupied it for several years. 
The name of Harrison Place was first given it in 1S40 in 
honor of President Harrison. 

Andem Place was not opened until some ten years 
later, and was named for Moses Andem, who lived for 
many years in the old Davis house. For some little time 
the Catholics of Brookline had held services on Sundays 
in Lyceum Hall. In 1854 the Church of ''St. Mary" 
was built in Andem Place, and was first occupied for reg- 
ular services on Christmas Day of that year. Rev. Mr. 
O'Bierne was the first priest of the parish, and was suc- 
ceeded by Rev. J. M. Finotti in 1856. 

In 1855, on Thanksgiving Day, November 2Tth, the 
church narrowly escaped being destroyed by fire, from 
some accidental cause. It was repaired and has since 
been enlarged and improved. The great increase of this 
congregation made it necessary that there should be an 
assistant in the clergyman's duties, and for some time 
Rev. J. C. Murphy was associated with Father Finotti as 
colleague. The latter gentleman closed his labors with 
this church at Easter, 1873, leaving the parish in charge 
of Rev. Mr. Lamb. This young man was much devoted 
to the interest of the young people in his church, and 
was highly popular. But greatly to the regret of all, his 
health failed, and he went South hoping for restoration. 
He died in New York on his way home, July 5, 1873, 
and his body was brought to St. Mary's Church, where 
impressive funeral services were held, attended by an im- 
mense congregation. Father Lamb was succeeded by 
Rev. L. J. Morris, the present pastor. 

A branch of the great Catholic Temperance organiza- 



62 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

tion, called St. Mary's Total Abstinence Society, is con- 
nected with this church. 

Webster Place, named for the great statesman, is of 
more recent date than either of the others, the only house 
built previous to 1850 being the first on the left, built by 
Mr. Bela Stoddard and now occupied by his son-in-law, 
Mr. A. L. Lincoln. 

To picture Harvard Street as it was previous to 1843, 
it will be necessary to recall briefly the description re- 
specting the entrance to this street, from the " square," 
so called, — on the right there being no house, after Mr. 
Griggs' residence on the corner, except Mr. Stoddard's 
just mentioned, as far as Aspinwall Avenue. On the 
left, after the old Baptist Church, with the sheds and 
parsonage behind it, were Mr. Seaverns' buildings on the 
top of the hill, accessible only by a rather steep drive- 
way, or numerous wooden steps in a terraced bank, the 
common sidewalk going up over the lower terrace. From 
there to School Street was no building. Tlie street, dag 
somewhat below the level of the hill, was much higher 
than at present, and bordered by high banks on either 
side, with a low stone wall on the top of each, overhung 
all the way on the left side by barberry bushes, with here 
and there a wild cherry or apple tree. On the right, the 
bank was overgrown with blackberry bushes, and other 
wild shrubs and vines, and some young buttonwoods 
which had sprung up from old stumps, for Brookline was 
luxuriant with buttonwoods until a comparatively recent 
date. 

These trees made a litter with their falling bark and 
downy round balls, but they were picturesque, with their 
bare white spots, and made a grand shade when the mer- 
cury was rampant among the nineties, for they often 
towered to a great height besides being spreading, and 
thickly set with their fan-like leaves. 



LINDEN PLACE. — THE DAVIS FAMILY. 63 

The site of Linden Place was formerly an extensive 
cherry and apple orchard. An old barn stood where the 
entrance is, with a pair of bars beside it, where a cart-road 
began. This ground remained the property of the Davis 
family till 1843, though often called " Holden's farm," a 
Mr. James Holden having married the widow of Mr. 
Eben Davis, 3d. It was then laid out in house lots and 
sold at public auction. It was the first land thus sold 
in Brookline, and the highest price paid for any part of it 
was jive and a half cents a foot. 

Times have changed since then, and it is perhaps pos- 
sible, that there are children now living in the town who 
will see it five and a half dollars a foot. 

The central lot was taken by Mr. Thomas Aspinwall 
Davis, and for him was built the house now occupied by 
Mr. Goodnow. 

Hon. Thomas Aspinwall Davis, who built the house 
in the centre of Linden Place, was born in the old Davis 
house in Harrison Place, in December, 1798, and was 
baptized in infancy by Rev. Dr. Pierce, then the only 
minister in Brookline. He was the child of Eben Davis, 
3d. 

His name was given him in honor of his maternal 
grandfather and great-grandfather, his mother being of 
the Aspinwall family and the Gardners, two of the oldest 
families on record in the town. He was a bright and 
interesting boy, ready fco learn according to his oppor- 
tunities in the Brookline schools, and full of the activities 
of boyhood, nutting in the Aspinwall woods, hunting and 
fishing along the marshes and creeks, and ingenious with 
tools. A little cider-mill of his construction is remem- 
bered by the playmates of his childhood. While a boy 
rambling over the marshes one day, he was accidentally 
shot in the breast by a Brookline gentleman who was 



64 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

aiming at a flock of plovers on the wing. Much alarm 
was felt at first, but no permanent injury resulted from 
it, and the gentleman made all the restitution possible. 
When the boy Avas fourteen years of age he was placed 
in a jeweller's shop in Boston to learn the business, com- 
ing home only on Saturday nights, which occasions were 
looked forward to with the greatest pleasure by the 
family. He soon became acquainted with a young Paris- 
ian who could speak no English, and they became mutual 
teachers, each thus learning the other's language. 

Few young men in High School or College devote 
themselves more assiduously to culture than did young 
Davis. Instead of rushing into wild gayeties as soon as 
business hours were over, as too many did then as well 
as now, he turned his attention to his beloved books, and 
read and studied upon the various sciences, writing out 
a synopsis of each book as he progressed, the better to 
fix it in his memory. 

When he had an interval of leisure from business, he 
procured a complete set of Blackstone and studied law. 
Some changes in business, and openings at the Soutli 
made it necessary for him to be sent to New Orleans, 
and before he Avas twenty-three years of age he had 
twice made a tour from Boston to New Orleans, chiefly 
in a private carriage, attended with some fatigue and 
hardship, but giving him fine opportunities for observa- 
tion and a knowledge of men. 

After his return from the second trip he established 
himself with Mr. Julius Palmer in the jewelry business 
in Boston, in which he continued until chosen Mayor of 
Boston in 1845. At that time he was living in Linden 
Place and devoting his leisure to ornamenting his grounds 
with choice trees and shrubbery. 

He was not a very robust man, and the duties and 



THE CAMBRIDGE ROAD. 65 

cares of his office were too great a tax for liis i)liysical 
endurance. 

He was taken sick in the autumn, and after a few 
week's illness died November 22, l(S4r). He had been in 
liis early manhood a member of Park Street Church, 
Boston, but at the time of his death was connected witli 
the Winter Street or Central Church. Rev. Mr. Rogers, 
his pastor, being in Europe at the time, Dr. Pierce of 
Brookline, the pastor of his youth, was requested to 
preacli the funeral sermon. 

Mr. Davis was greatly beloved and most sincerely la- 
mented. He was buried in the family tomb in Brookline, 
where five generations of his ancestors had been laid 
away. Like the good men of old he was literally "gath- 
ered to his fathers." Mr. Davis left a widow but no 
children. His house and grounds were sold ; and this 
property has changed owners more frequently than any 
other in Linden Place. There are now but three of the 
original owners of houses in that place still living there. 

Leaving Linden Place we pass up '* the Cambridge 
Road," as PLirvard Street was called, between its bush- 
grown banks till we come to Aspinwall Avenue, only a 
narrow lane with a gateway. On the left as we enter, 
the brook which comes through under the road (Harvard 
Street), makes a sweeping curve and goes under the lane. 
Beside the low stone wall on the left, on the grassy bank 
beyond the brook stand two great willow trees whose 
pendent branches, overhanging the brook and the lane, 
droop so low that the children can reach them as they 
come there to play during the " nooning," from the old 
school-house in ** School-house Lane." 'J'he brick store 
now covers the place where we used to swing on the old 
willows and hunt for " Jack in the Pulpit," in the meadow 
behind the wall, in the early spring. The side of the 



66 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

lane where the " blue eyed grass " grew, is covered by a 
row of houses, and the brook where we dipped up the 
froth, and traced the musk-rat by his perfume, and sailed 
our freighted chips, is concealed by stone and gravel and 
is no longer a brook but a sewer. 

Further along on the left, near the old house which 
Mr. Melcher has tastefully rejuvenated, was a great but- 
ternut tree, where the children hunted for butternuts in 
the autumn. Another stood upon the right, and the field 
in front of the old mansion which yet overlooks its green 
acres is still almost unchanged. This ancient house was 
once no doubt by far the finest in the town. 



THE ASPINWALL FAMILY 



CHAPTER V. 

THE ASPINWALL FAMILY. THE COLONEL. THE DOCTOR. 

THE OLD SCHOOL-HOUSE ON SCHOOL STREET. 

IN 16G0, Peter Aspinwall built the house which still 
stands, the most ancient in our town, or probably any- 
where in this vicinity, and from him it passed to his son 
Samuel, who was quite a military hero. In 1690, when Sir 
William Phipps took possession of the fort at Port lloyaU 
and of the coast as far as the Penobscot River, Samuel As- 
pinwall served under him as lieutenant in the expedition. 

Afterwards he was captain of a Brookline company. 
The muster-roll of this ancient company would be an in- 
teresting document. 

In 1727, at the age of sixty-five, the Captain was 
drowned in Charles River, not far from his farm. One 
can imagine something of the sensation this event must 
have produced in this thinly settled town ; the los^ of 
so prominent a citizen, the search for tlie body, — ^ the 
militaiy procession, for he was buried under arms, — the 
long funeral sermon, probably in the little churcli then 
only ten years built, — the vacant seat in the square pew, 
'' in tlie northwest corner," — the muffled drums, and the 
volley fired over the grave. 

And how it was doubtless the topic of conversation 
among neighboi-s when they met for weeks after, and 
with what superstitious awe they looked upon the fore- 
runner or " warning " as they probably considered it, that 
he should have selected for his morning reading at family 



68 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

devotions the 27tli chapter of the Proverbs, beginning, 
" Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not 
what a da}^ may bring forth." 

One of the Captain's sons, Thomas by name, was a 
lieutenant in the company commanded by his father. 
He lived and died upon the farm. His wife was Johan- 
nah, daughter of Caleb Gardner, and thus the connection 
of these two ancient families was formed to which we 
have heretofore alluded. His son, William, the celebrated 
physician (of whom more hereafter), married a daughter 
of Captain Isaac Gardner, who was killed at Lexington. 

Of the seven children of Lieutenant Thomas and Jo- 
hannah Gardner, another besides the doctor deserves par- 
ticular mention. This was Thomas, who bore up the 
military fame of his father, grandfather, and great-grand- 
father by efficient service in the War of the Revolution. 

He held a colonel's commission and commanded the 
fort in this town at Sewall's Point. 

The fort mounted six guns, which commanded Charles 
River, and was built to prevent the British from ascend- 
ing the river in their boats, and this, Avith old Fort Wash- 
ington on the Cambridge side, doubtless saved the country 
along the river from many depredations. A water-bat- 
tery mounting two guns was on the present site of the 
Longwood School-house near St. Mary's Street. 

The family of the Colonel lived in a large two-story 
house which stood near the residence of the late Marshall 
Stearns, on Sewall Avenue. The Colonel probably re- 
garded his house as in an exposed situation, in case the 
fort should be taken, and he sent his family away to 
Sherborn, where they remained till after the British evac- 
uated Boston. 

The old fort remained in good preservation till the 
Worcester Railroad was built, and as that was laid out 



ANECDOTE OF GENERAL WASHINGTON. 69 



orwarcis 



directly through it, and Abbott's whiirf was aft( 
built upon the water-front of it, nothing was left but the 
well on the left of the driveway to the wharf and the 
old ovens in a corner of the estate of A. A. Lawrence, 
Esq., and even these have now disappejired. 

A venerable lady of this town, long since dead, who re- 
membered the battle of Bunker Hill, and AVashington 
when in command at Cambridge, used to speak of a visit 
of inspection which Washington made to the Brookline 
Fort. Several Brookline boys, full of eager curiosity 
to see the new commander-in-chief, pressed quite near, 
when an orderly peremptorily drove them back. This 
attracted the General's attention, and beckoning the 
boys towards him, he laid his Iiand kindly upon the 
head of a little fellow who approached with hat in hand, 
and told the orderly to allow the boys to see all that 
was to be seen. We do not know that this anecdote has 
ever been in print before, but it was current among the 
old inhabitants of Brookline and there is no reason to 
doubt its authenticity. 

The house in which the Colonel lived was afterwards 
occupied by his son John. Through some misfortune of 
his it passed out of the possession of his family, but his 
widow lived in it wdth a son, William, who is stiH re- 
membered as a patient, bed-ridden sufferer, for over thirty 
years. His devoted mother attended him with unfailing 
care till his death, when she was over eighty years of age. 
She did not long survive him, and soon after her death 
the old house was destroyed by fire. 

A great-grandson of the Colonel, and grandson of the 
John above mentioned, bearing his name, has kept up the 
military character of the family by good service in the 
War of the Rebellion, and daily walks our streets bearing 
trace of rebel shot or shell received in the fight at Hat- 



70 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

teras Inlet where he served as engineer of the Minne- 
sota. 

We turn now once more to the ancient house in Aspin- 
wall Avenue. The youngest brother of the Revohition- 
ary colonel, still well remembered by many of our towns- 
people as " the Doctor," was born in 1743. 

He entered Harvard College in 1760, received his de- 
grees in the usual course, and then went to Connecticut, 
where he studied medicine under Dr. Gale, then a cele- 
brated physician. 

Having completed his course by attending a series of 
medical lectures in Philadelphia, he returned to Brookline, 
and commenced practice at the age of twenty-six. It was 
seen by those who had his education in charge that he 
was a young man of more than ordinary promise, and the 
certificates given him, and still preserved by his family, ' 
are unusually commendatory. 

The young doctor was not only a man of learning but 
a man of principle, — he not only " regarded man " but 
he feared God, and he took up his life work in an earnest 
and faithful spirit. His personal appearance was com- 
manding, as he was a fine figure and over six feet in 
height. He had lost the sight of one eye in childhood by 
an accident with an arrow, but judging from his portrait 
this was but slightly noticeable. A portrait of him by 
Stuart when far advanced in life so resembles the por- 
traits of Washington, that when the house of his son-in- 
law, Lewis Tappan, Esq., was sacked b}^ a pro-slavery 
mob in New York, many years ago, this portrait was the 
only picture spared. Probably the rioters mistook it for 
that of Washington and forebore to lay their desecrating 
hands upon even the painted semblance of " the Father 
of his country." 

The Doctor's practice grew rapidly, and extended far 



DR. ASPINWALL. 71 

and wide, so that he frequently rode even forty miles on 
horseback to visit his patients, carrying his medicines in 
saddle-bags, as was the custom of those times. 

When the War of the Revolution broke out we hear of 
the Rrookline doctor first, at the battle of Lexington. 
Regardless of personal danger he was hastening to the 
fight in the red coat he was accustomed to wear, when 
lie was reminded by a friend that he might be taken for 
a British '' red coat '' and be shot by his friends, so he 
hastily laid that garment aside and donning one which 
would ])rove him unmistakably a Yankee, he joined the 
eager throng who had dropped plough, spade, hammer, 
or pen, to rally at the insulted country's call. The road 
was too circuitous for men on such an errand, and taking 
a short cut across the fields and " over the river," they 
were soon in the deadly fray. Captain Gardner, of 
Brookline, was killed, and the Doctor, after assisting in 
chasing the retreating British to Charlestown, returned 
through Cambridge and had the body cared for that 
night, and in the morning ]\Ir. John Heath, of Brookline, 
went to Cambridge and brought it home to the bereaved 
family. 

Dr. Aspinw^all being blind in one eye, was obliged to 
fire from the left shoulder, but he proved himself a sharp 
shooter on this occasion, being seen to lay one if not more 
of the enemy in the dust. 

He applied for a commission, but by the advice of his 
friend. General Joseph Warren, himself a physician, he 
decided to serve in the medical department and save 
Yankees instead of killing the British. General War- 
ren's brief and brilliant career was speedily closed at 
Bunker Hill, but Dr. Aspinwall's knowledge and skill 
were in requisition not only through the war but long 
years after. 



72 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

In 1775, Dr. Aspinwall was surgeon at St. Thomas' 
Hospital in Roxbury. In 1778 we find by bis letters to 
his wife, that he was with the army under General Sulli- 
van in Rhode Island. 

To this wife, with whom he lived most harmoniously 
thirty-eight years, he wrote most devoted and charming 
letters. We make one brief extract which sounds re- 
freshing in these days when we hear so much of conjugal 
infelicities. 

Alluding to a letter which he had received from her 
the day before " with great joy and satisfaction," he 
says : — 

" I did not much expect you would write me, but assure you 
it was very agreeable to hear from the chief or sole source of 

all my earthly happiness I have at times, almost been 

tempted to return and relieve your anxious solicitude about me, 
by reason of the dangers I may possibly be exposed to. But 
my duty and honor, the kindness I am treated with by the offi- 
cers, their great desire and persuasion to have me tarry, and 
the importance of the cause I am engaged in, forbid me to har- 
bor a single thought of returning at present. I rely on the 
protection of that beneficent Being under the shadow of whose 
wings I have trod the dangerous and thorny paths through life 
with safety. On Him I trust, and to Him I pray, that I may 
be returned to the arms of the dearest and most deserving of 
women." 

Time passed on and " the dearest and most deserving 
of women " received in safety her affectionate and high- 
minded husband, who forthwith settled himself again to 
the work of a village doctor, — laborious enough at best 
with all the modern appliances and conveniences, but in 
those days of poor and unlighted streets, scattered pop- 
ulation, and bulky medicines imported slowly and with 
difficulty and expense, — with the cumbersome saddle- 



THE SMALL-POX HOSPITAL. 73 

bags, the prejudices and the poverty of the people, his 
must have been a life of fatigue and anxiety beyond any- 
thing in the range of modern experience. 

The small-pox, then the terror of the whole country, 
had been introduced here by foreign armies, and the 
practice of inoculation for it, was beginning to gain a 
strong foothold in spite of the prejudices which it en- 
countered. 

This was not vaccination^ but a regular inoculation 
with the virus of the real small-pox, that the patient 
might have the disease by appointment instead of unex- 
pectedly, and thus be relieved of all future apprehensions 
respecting it. 

It was the custom of those times to carry off a person 
showing symptoms of the dreaded disease, to the most 
remote place possible, shut him up there with one attend- 
ant, put out a red flag to keep all passers by at a distance, 
and there let the poor victim die or recover according as 
Providence decreed. 

After Dr. Aspinwall's army experience he conceived 
the idea of establishing on his own premises a hospital, 
to which patients should be received and where they 
should be inoculated, and stay during their sickness un- 
der his personal attention and that of experienced nui'ses. 
Accordingly, he erected a building for that purpose upon 
his farm, and patients began to come. He Avas very suc- 
cessful in his treatment, and the fame of his hospital so 
extended that he soon had to build another, and after- 
ward still a third. One of these buildings was situated 
about where Perry Street joins Aspinwall Avenue, the 
others not far from Longwood Station on the left from 
Aspinwall Avenue near the marsh. Of course some of 
the patients died, and there are Brookline people buried 
in the marshes, as well as others who came from a dis- 



74 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

tance, who perished under the horrible scourge in spite 
of the skill of their wise doctor. 

But the majority recovered and went to their homes 
gratefully rejoicing. One of our oldest inhabitants re- 
members being in this hospital for treatment almost 
eighty years ago, and retains a more distinct recollection 
of trying to drown a squirrel by turning water into a hol- 
low stump where he had hidden, than he does of the 
small-pox. 

One can imagine something of the feelings with which 
an adult patient must have entered the fearful portals 
of this institution, and the strength of nerve it must have 
taken to sit down and calmly receive into the system the 
virus which must mean suffering in a most loathsome 
form, and might mean death. Yet parents sent there 
whole families of children, of whom some returned to 
them, and some, alas ! never came. 

But a new order of things was about to be established. 
Vaccination, as a means of prevention of the dreaded dis- 
ease, was first introduced in this country by Dr. Water- 
house, of Cambridge, about the beginning of the present 
century. Dr. As]3inwall had then been devoted to the 
treatment of the disease by inoculation, and had spent 
much money, no doubt, in building and fitting up his hos- 
pitals. 

Dr. Waterhouse invited all the physicians of Boston 
and vicinity to see the first cases of vaccination ever prac- 
ticed in the United States. Of course it was a matter of 
vital interest to Dr. Aspinwall, and he gave it the most 
keen and critical examination. He took home a portion 
of the virus, tested it in the most thorough manner, and 
with Dr. Waterhouse's consent took to his hospital, some 
little time after, all of Dr. W.'s family who had been 
vaccinated and there tested the genuineness of the new 
treatment, "to the verge of rigid experiment." 



THE FAITHFUL PHYSICIAN. 75 

He satisfied himself of the vakie of the new discovery, 
and with generous and noble spirit he said to Dr. Water- 
house and others, "this new inoculation of yours is no 
sham. As a man of humanity, I rejoice in it thougli it 
will take from me a handsome annual income." Dr. 
Waterhouse gave this voluntary testimony to the honor- 
able course pursued by Dr. Aspinwall in this matter, in 
a paper published in the " Medical Intelligencer." 

Dr. Thacher also, in Avriting of him on this subject, 
calls him '' an honest man and a faithful ph^-sician." Had 
he, for selfish motives, chosen to throw the weight of his 
strong influence against vaccination, it would doubtless 
have affected public opinion for several years, and brought 
him further profit. As it Avas, in less than two years he 
took down his hospitals. 

The talents and energy which distinguished Dr. Aspin- 
wall were by no means confined to the profession to which 
his life was devoted. He was a man of culture and sa- 
gacity and practical wisdom, ably fitted to be a legislator, 
and as such he represented Brookline in the State Legis- 
lature, w^as three times chosen Senator for Norfolk Coun- 
ty, was a member of the Council and a Justice of the 
Peace. 

In the year 1803 the Doctor built the fine large house 
upon the hill, now occupied by his grandson, and re- 
moved thither. A year or two ago a carpenter making 
repairs, had occasion to remove some clapboards or shin- 
gles, and in the boards thus uncovered, he noticed names 
of several persons, with dates in the last century, and 
residence in distant States, deeply cut in the wood. On 
making inquiry respecting them he learned that the Doc- 
tor had used more or less of the timber and boards of the 
hospital in constructing his house, and here were the 
autographs of his jmtients. Poor fellows I Did they re- 



76 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BKOOKLINE. 

cover and return to the distant homes from which they 
came, hghter hearted for having met the foe and con- 
quered, or do they sleep in unknown and unmarked 
graves, in the Brookhne marshes ? Who can tell ? 

It will be remembered that the Doctor had but one 
eye for all his study and writing, and of the latter there 
is abundant evidence of the unflagging industry of more 
than half a century. In his later years a cataract began 
to form over the one precious eye, and fearing that it too 
would become useless, he submitted to a surgical opera- 
tion by a distinguished Professor of more than one medi- 
cal school. The operation was a failure, and sight was 
destroyed forever. 

With heroic philosophy and Christian resignation the 
brave old man bore up under this great affliction, and 
devoted himself to thought and reflection and " prepara- 
tion for death," as he expressed it. He had always been 
religious, and had religiously brought up his family; his 
memorandum book gives evidence of his daily desire in 
the midst of the activities of his most crowded and busy 
years, to live in fidelity to God and man. And what 
better preparation than such a life could any man make 
for entrance upon a higher and holier one ? Yet this 
brief pause on the threshold of the great unknown, he 
consecrates to calm reflection and faith and trust, and 
closing his sightless eyes upon the things of earth, at the 
end of almost eighty years he passed away, let us hope 
where all " shall see eye to eye," and know even as they 
are known. He died April 16, 1823, and was buried in 
Brookline cemetery.* 

The beautiful oriel window in the chancel at St. Paul's 

* We are indebted to our townsman, Wm. Aspinwall, Esq., for papers contain- 
ing full and valuable information respecting his honored ancestors, and from 
them have drawn materials for this brief sketch. 



COL. THOMAS ASPIXWALL. 77 

Church, Asi)inwall Avenue, was placed there as a memo- 
rial by his children, and contains an inscription in Latin, 
on the lower margin. 

DR. WILLIAM ASPINWALL, Jll., COL. THOMAS ASPINWALL. 

The eldest son of Dr. Aspinwall who lived to man- 
hood inherited his name, studied and graduated at Har- 
vard College, and having prepared himself to succeed 
his father in his profession, settled in Brookline, and 
already had begun to practice, when his father's blindness 
caused him to retire from professional life altogether. 

But the blind father, with the infirmities of age upon 
him, outlived the vigorous young son, who died in April, 
1818, at the age of thirty -four. The next son, Thomas, 
who was also a graduate of Harvard, and had been ad- 
mitted to the bar, found the whole career of life changed 
for him, by the second war with England. 

During that Avar he held a colonel's commission and 
served the country gallantly and faithfully ; was in the 
battle at Sackett's Harbor in 1818, commanded Scott's 
Brigade in the defense of Fort Erie, in August, 1814, 
and on the 17th of September of the same year he led 
^liller's column in the storming of the British entrench- 
ments. 

This engagement cost him the loss of his left arm. 

In June of the following year, Colonel Aspinwall was 
appointed U. S. Consul at London, which important 
office he held with great honor to himself and the coun- 
try which he represented for tJurty-seven years^ and was 
then removed ; not for any fault or failure or mistake, 
but simply because it pleased Franklin Pierce, then tlie 
President of the United States, to fill that important 
situation with one of his own political supporters. 

This event caused much indignant comment on both 



78 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINK. 

sides of the ocean, and the result was doubtless to cause 
fresh disgust with that miserable theory of " rotation in 
office," which has so often been unfortunately illustrated 
by the placing of inexperienced men in important situ- 
ations under Governnient. 

When Colonel Aspinwall left England, the Barings, 
the Rothschilds, George Peabody, and other distinguished 
individuals in London, presented him with an unusually 
magnificent service of plate, accompanied by a letter 
bearing most cordial and grateful testimony of respect 
and appreciation. 

The Colonel returned to his native town, and after 
spending some time here, removed to Boston, where he 
still lives, and although more than eighty-four years of 
age, is vigorously at work daily on literary matters. 

The venerable Colonel Thomas Aspinwall is the only 
surviving child of Dr. Aspinwall. His son Augustus, 
who succeeded him in the occupancy of the mansion house 
on the hill, has so recently passed away that his erect 
figure and handsome countenance are still fresh in the 
memory of all who knew him, and shared in the admira- 
tion of the exquisite roses for which he made his fine 
estate justly celebrated. 

The ancient homestead in Aspinwall Avenue was 
leased for many years after the Doctor ceased to occupy 
it. Mr. Daniel Perry was a tenant there for many years, 
and both himself and wife died there in old age. 

The house now occupied by Mr. Melcher was built 
more than a hundred and fifty years ago by Dr. Aspin- 
walFs father, no doubt for the use of some of his children, 
and was occupied by various members of the family. 

It was afterwards let for some years to Mr. Peter 
Banner, who built the old Unitarian Church (the second 
edifice) in 1805. After him, many other tenants succes- 



THE OLD ASPINWALL ELM. 79 

sively occupied the house till Colonel Aspinwall sold it 
to its present owner. 

The magnificent elm which overshadowed the old 
house, and of which now only a portion of the trunk re- 
mains, was said to have been set out in 1656. This 
statement may be found in the " North American Re- 
view," for July, 1844, but Rev. John Pierce, D. D., from 
Avhom any native of Brookline who should dare to differ 
on dates would be audacious indeed, stated that the " tra- 
dition of the oldest and best informed inhabitants has 
uniformly been that it was set out by Deacon Samuel 
Clark " (great-great-grandfather of the present Samuel 
Clark of Walnut Street,) who served his boyhood in the 
Aspinwall family, which, if true, would probably fix the 
date of the setting out of the tree, about 1700. About 
thirty years ago nearly half the tree fell, under its great 
weight of leaves, and four or five years since the rest of 
it folloAved, breaking a hole through the roof of the house. 

Two splendid elms from the seed of this ancient one 
now grow, one near the front of the old house, the other 
close to the Avenue. May no ruthless " widening " 
hasten their destruction for a century to come. 

The ancient elm measured twenty-six feet in circum- 
ference near the surface of the ground, and sixteen feet 
eight inches at five feet from the surface. 

One cannot but look regretfully upon the fast hasten- 
ing ruin of a house which for two hundred and eleven 
years has borne a conspicuous part in the annals of our 
town, and has sheltered under its low roof so many dis- 
tinguish^ individuals. For long ago 

" In that mansion used to be 
Free-hearted Hospitality ; 
His great fires up the chimney roared, 
The stranger feasted at his board. 



80 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

There groups of merry children played, 
There youths and maidens dreaming strayed, 



From that chamber, clothed in white, 
The bride (rame forth on her wedding night, 
There in that silent room below 
The dead lay in his shroud of snow. 

All are scattered now and fled, 

Some are married and some are dead;" 

and of those who once frequented it there are none to 
come again. 

The beautiful grove in the rear of the farm on the high 
ground bordering the marsh, though nearly obliterated, is 
well remembered by all middle-aged persons who grew 
up in Brookline, as a great resort for local picnics. The 
place acquired the name of " Perry's Woods " for several 
years when Farmer Perry was the lessee ; in *' Perry's 
Woods " lovers rambled and children played unmolested. 
The long, high, green ridge, with shade trees on each side 
whose arches met overhead, seemed as if planned for a 
natural dining hall, and when long tables were spread 
there with white cloths and ornamented with flowers, and 
the music of a band awoke the echoes, it was a most at- 
tractive spot. But perhaps nothing was looked forward 
to with more eager anticipation or more thoroughly en- 
joyed than an annual visit to the grove, in an informal 
manner, bv the teacher and pupils of the old Primary 
School in '' School-house Lane." 

The memory of the race from the upper to the lower 
end of that long green ridge, — the great swing on the 
oak, the game of " Hunt the Squirrel through the woods, 
I've lost him, I've found him," how we all remember it 
still ! Most of us have been hunting our squirrel ever 
since ; some liave lost him, and a few have found him, 
and some tired out with the weary chase have lain down 
and abandoned it forever. 



ST. Paul's church. 81 

ST. Paul's church, aspinwall avenue. 

This beautiful little building with its picturesque sur- 
roundings, from whatever point it i^ approached, is one 
of the pleasantest objects upon which the eye rests in 
the whole vicinity. Through the summer the dark green 
clustering vines almost conceal the walls, and in autumn 
they hang out their flaming banners of scarlet and crim- 
son, gracefully festooning porch and gable. It is often 
a pleasant reminder of lovely bits of English scenery 
to those who have made themselves familiar with the 
pleasant places of that country. 

The society was organized in 1849, and prominent 
among its earliest members were Messrs. Eliakim Littell, 
James S. Amory, Augustus Aspinwall, AVilliam Aspin- 
wall, Harrison Fay, John Shepherd, Moses B. Williams, 
James S. Patten, Theodore Lyman, Frederic P. Ladd, 
and others. On the second Sunday in July of tliat year, 
tlie first service was held in the Town Hall, Rev. Thomas 
M. Clarke (the present Bishop of Rhode Island) gen- 
erously volunteering his services as pastor during his 
vacation of that summer. 

A few months later, during which the society had been 
without a regular incumbent, it was decided to call the 
Rev. William Horton, of Newburyport, as Rector. That 
gentleman accepted, and for three years, during which 
the society steadily increased in numbers and prosperity, 
he faithfully discharged his parochial and ministerial 
duties. In the fall of 1850 it was decided to build a 
substantial church. A subscription was raised for the 
purpose. Among the contributors were Messrs. James S. 
Amory, Moses B. Williams, John S. Wright, Benjamin 
Howard, Theodore Lyman, William Appleton, Augustus 
Aspinwall, Harrison Fay, and others. The two gentle- 



82 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

men last named were the largest subscribers, Mr. A spin- 
wall giving '1)2,000, and the land now belonging to the 
church, at that time worth about $1,500. Mr. Fay gave 
15,000. The total amount subscribed was about 112,000, 
which was sufficient to build the body of the church only, 
the addition of the tower involving a further outlay of 
about $13,000, which was paid equally by Messrs. Aspin- 
wall and Fay. T. C. Leeds, of Boston (a native of 
Brookline) gave the bell, worth nearly $1,000. The 
beautiful memorial window in the chancel was presented 
by the A spin wall family, the rest were given by Mr. 
Fay. Mr. Augustus Aspinwall bequeathed to the church 
in his will several pews belonging to him at the time of 
his deatli, the proceeds of the sales of which should be 
applied towards the building of a parsonage. 

Richard Upjohn, Esq., of New York, was the archi- 
tect, and Messrs. Aspinwall, Fay, and M. B. Williams 
were the building committee. The church was built 
with remarkable solidity and very economically, the 
whole cost not exceeding $26,000. It was entirely paid 
for when completed, and since that time has had no last- 
ing debt. In May, 1852, Rev. Mr. Horton resigned, 
and Dr. John S. Stone, of Brooklyn, formerly of St. 
Paul's Church, Boston, accepted a call as his successor. 
The church was formally consecrated in December, 1852, 
and Dr. Stone entered upon his duties as Rector. His 
eloquence and great worth are well known and fondly 
remembered by those of his parishioners who survive 
his pastorate, as well as by many others in this town who 
heard and kncAV him. 

He continued here for ten years, and resigned in the 
fall of 1862, to accept a professorship in the Episcopal 
Theological Seminary, at Philadelphia. After an inter- 
regnum of a few months, Rev. Dr. Francis Wharton of 



THE OLD SCHOOL-HOUSK. 83 

Kenyon College, Gambler, Ohio, was installed as Rector, 
and continued until the summer of 1869, when he re- 
signed, and was succeeded in the spring of 1870 by Rev. 
Wm. W. Newton, the present young and talented Rector. 

During Dr. Stone's ministry (in the summer of 1857) 
the chapel adjacent to the church was built. One thou- 
sand dollars was contributed towards its erection, by Mrs. 
Mary Rogers, of Boston, on condition that it should con- 
tain a mural tablet in memory of her daughter, who had 
died in Egypt the previous year. The remainder of 
the sum necessary for its completion (about $1,000), was 
raised by the ladies of the parish. The condition an- 
nexed to the donation of Mrs. Rogers was complied with, 
and the chapel lias on its western wall a beautiful marble 
tablet with a tasteful design representing INIary sitting 
at the feet of the Saviour, under which is the line, " ^lary 
sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word," also an inscrip- 
tion commemorating the death of Mrs. Rogers and her 
daughter. 

Prominent among the past members of the society 
were Colonel Wilder D wight and his brother Howard, 
and Henry V. Stone, a son of the former Rector, all of 
Avhom lost their lives in the War of the Rebellion. 

THE OLD SCHOOL-HOUSE ON SCHOOL STREET. 

Leaving Aspinwall Avenue, we turn aside before going 
further up Harvard Street, to take a glance at the 
" School-house Lane," as it was formerly called, — now 
School Street, — as there was but one building upon it 
until within thirty years, and that was the school-house. 

The lane was narrow, not much more than a cart road, 
and bordered on either side by a low stone wall overluing 
by trees, and on the east side by a thick, natural hedge 
of barberry bushes, which nearly concealed the wall. 



84 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

A school was kept in this hme from a very early period, 
probably the only school in the town while it was a part 
of Boston. The original school-house was a very small 
and low, square, hipped-roof building, on the spot where 
the Williams block of houses now stands. Some of the 
oldest inhabitants can just remember it as a mere hovel 
going to ruin, in their early childhood. 

The second school-house Avas the same style of build- 
ing, a little larger, and stood on the spot now forming 
the corner of School and Prospect streets. There is a 
tradition that this bit of ground was given to the town for 
a school-house lot, forever^ by one of the ancient Davises. 

The arrangements in and about this ancient edifice of 
learning, for the accommodation of teacher and pupils, 
would hardly satisfy modern tastes and requirements. 
On each side of an alley through the middle of the 
room, the seats were arranged facing the alley, like seats 
in a street car, only they were long, narrow benches, 
with a plank in front upon legs, running the whole 
length of the room (except a space for admission at the 
ends), and this plank served the purpose of a desk. A 
sort of drawer underneath served to hold the books, which 
were not numerous. The Bible, the Psalter, the Spell- 
ing-book, and the Arithmetic being all that were used, 
and not all those at once. Perhaps they feared softening 
of the brain. The teacher's desk was in the left hand 
corner farthest from the door, and the right hand corner 
was occupied by an immense fire-place with a chimney 
to match. On the wall the clothing was hung. 

The wood, of cord length and often unseasoned, was 
deposited outside the school-house, and autumnal rains 
and winter snows fell unchecked upon it. The winter 
school, taught by a man, used to begin with the Monday 
after Thanksgiving, and the boys took turns, week by 



THE SCHOOL. 85 

week, in sawing and splitting the wood and making the • 
fire. Friction matches were one of the blessings reserved 
for modern times, so the hickless wights who made the 
fires had to bring Uve coals in an iron skillet, kept for 
the purpose, from " Squire Sharp's," the nearest neigh- 
bor, and for some time the schoolmaster. 

On one occasion, a boy who lived with " Parson Jack- 
son," as he was called (the predecessor of Dr. Pierce), 
after laboring over a green and knotty stump without 
much success, hit upon the bright idea of blowing it up 
with gunpowder. 

Accordingly he drilled a hole, filled it with powder, 
and applied the fuse or tinder, and in his great interest 
stood close by to watch the result of his experiment. 
He did not stand there long, however, and a lame leg 
proved to him convincingly how very active and power- 
ful an agent gunpowder will become under the influence 
of fire, even in a green stump. 

One morning, on the arrival of teacher and pupils, the 
room was found filled with the densest smoke. Opening 
doors and windows did not produce much effect ; the 
chimney could not be persuaded to clrmv that day, study 
was impossible and school was dismissed. An investi- 
gation as to the sudden foulness of the chimney revealed 
the fact that the top was closely covered with a board, 
and there was an understanding among the boys that 
one of their number who lived with Squire Sharp had 
thus secured them the holiday. 

For many years the town appropriated money for two 
terms of school in the year, three or four months each, 
in summer and in Avinter. The people of the district 
then contributed somewhat more, that a few weeks might 
be added to the terms. Thus the schools were kept 
nearly as many weeks in the year as at present, only the 
vacations occurred in the comfortable weather of fall and 



86 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

spring when the children were in good condition to study, 
and through the whole of the sweltering dog-days, teach- 
ers and pupils were kept at their tasks. 

" Squire Sharp," of whom further mention will be 
made hereafter, was teacher of the winter school several 
years, as was also Dr. Aspinwall. Three teachers by 
the name of Allen (not brothers), also served for several 
winters. One of them was afterwards President of 
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., if our information is 
correct, and another became subsequently a Unitarian 
clergyman. 

Among the old school-masters was one who at times 
indulged in various strange freaks, and was strongly sus- 
pected of stimulating the inner man too largely with 
doses of something more ex:citing than water. About 
eleven o'clock every day he retired to the entry, and one 
day as he returned through the alley, a little fellow raised 
his hand and called out, " Master ! master ! your bottle 's 
sticking out of your pocket!" It was too true; not 
only was the bottle out but the truth was out also, and 
the story flew about town. 

Tt came to the ears of the School Committee, who were 
also the Selectmen at that time, and they decided that 
it was best to call on the master in a body (of three) 
and remonstrate upon the errors of his ways. Accord- 
ingly that formidable trio presented themselves on a 
certain evening at the master's boarding place for an 
interview. 

Instantly on their arrival the master suspected the 
reason of this surprise party, and quietly asked his host 
to prepare a bowl of punch and bring it in immediately. 
In the meantime he entertained his guests most cordially 
and socially, calling on all his resources of wit and anec- 
dote. Presently the punch came in and was passed 
around with most cheerful liberality, the master talking 



OLD-TIME TEACHERS. 87 

Oil all the while, and among the rest of his good stories 
lie told of a schoolmaster, a friend of his, who was sus- 
pected of indulging too much in the use of liquors, and 
was actually called upon by his committee for the pur- 
pose of reprimanding him, but he treated them so well 
with excellent punch that they went away without saying 
a word I 

The baffled Committee knowing too well that the wily 
schoolmaster had the advantage, as they had already 
each taken a draught, actually retired from the field, and 
left him the victor, and he finished the winter school 
unrebuked for either his intemperance or his impudence, 
and we have been informed was even employed again. 

Among the female teachers of those days were two 
sisters, Nabby and Joanna Jordan, who lived with their 
parents in the little house which we described as formerly 
standing in the meadow about where the upper end of 
White Place now is. IMany good people now far ad- 
vanced in life, learned their A, B, C, in that little old 
building of Miss Nabby or Miss Joanna. Another of 
the female teachers, for many successive j^ears, was Miss 
Lucy Aspiiiwall. A little bit of the economy of those 
old times is preserved to extravagant moderns in an 
anecdote of this lady's habits. A lady, who attended 
her school more than seventy-five years ago, remembers 
that her old teacher used to wear a long dress to school 
and take it off and hang it up, on her arrival there, and 
put on a short, loose gown and skirt, to keep school in. 
The one long dress thus carefully preserved did service 
a long time. It will be remembered that this economical 
teacher was from one of the first families in town. What 
would our ancestors have thought if they could have 
foreseen a Saratoga trunk, or a modern dressmaker's 
bill ? 



88 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Early in the present century the old school-house be- 
ing seriously dilapidated, at town meeting an appropria- 
tion was asked for to repair it. On examination it was 
found to be so unsound that the best judges recommended 
the erection of a new building. 

Then out came the conservatives to the battle, for they 
never lack a champion or a reserve force. All the an- 
cient and time-honored arguments so familiar to modern 
ears were set in array. The present building could be 
" fixed up " for a small sum and answer its purpose for 
years to come. It would increase the taxes, and here 
came in the cry of the veterans who had plenty of money 
but no children ; and so on, ad infinitum. But the men 
who believe that nothing is economical which stints edu- 
cation carried the day so far as to secure an appropriation 
of twelve hundred dollars for a new building. This much 
conceded, Mr. Thomas Griggs (now the Deacon), who 
was then one of the School Committee, represented to 
the assembled wisdom of the town the better policy and 
economy of adding a few hundred dollars more and mak- 
ing the building two stories high. Audacity, indeed ! 
Had they not just voted away the town's money with un- 
paralleled extravagance, ttvelve hundred dollars to build 
a neiv school-house when a respectable minority thought 
the old one might do for a dozen years to come, and now 
to be asked to build it tivo stories high I Oliver Twist's 
petition for "more" did not evoke more surprise. Two 
stories high indeed ! and where were the children coming 
from to fill it ? No ! the matter was settled, so far as the 
town was concerned, twelve hundred dollars and not a 
cent more. 

But the Deacon, nothing daunted, called a meeting of 
the inhabitants of the district, and urged the matter upon 
them, proposing that they should raise a few hundreds 



THE NEW SCHOOL-HOUSE. 89 

more, and put on the second story. He drew up a paper 
and began the subscription list there, and in a few days 
four hundred dolhirs Avere subscribed. It was sorely op- 
posed by some who were well able to giye, and one man 
who had seyeral children to send to school absolutely re- 
fused to give a cent. Finding, however, that tlie four 
hundred was nearly subscribed and the work would be 
done, he finally handed in ten dollars. 

So the school-house was built two stories hierh with a 
place for clothing in the entry, and a little room for fuel 
in the rear of each room. A platform ran across the end 
on Avhicli was the teacher's desk, opposite to the door. 
The seats were arranged to face the teacher, six in a row, 
the desks being all under the same board for one row, 
but separated inside from one another. A square box 
stove for wood heated each room. On each end of the 
platform were three more seats, and in front of the desks 
a narrow board was placed a few inches from the floor for 
a seat for the little children. Who that ever sat upon 
those seats Avill forget their hardness ? We have heard 
mention made of " the soft side of a plank." That there 
was no soft side to those planks none who sat there will 
deny their testimony. Poor little urchins of four years 
and upwards sat there from nine to twelve in the fore- 
noon, and from one till four in the afternoon, summer 
and winter, to read the alphabet once through from A ta 
Z, each half-day, with five minutes recess only in eacli 
session, and a smart application of the rattan or ruler if 
they turned round or whispered. 

What would some of the tender mammas of present 
times think of this course for their darlings, who imagine 
the present regime of the public schools " hard," for chil- 
dren of six or seven years to stay under, five hours a day, 
divided by two recesses of fifteen minutes each, and with 



90 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

all the resources of slates, picture books, singing, and an 
endless variety of pleasant exercises in reciting. But un- 
reasonable parents were not unknown fifty years ago. 
For some time a Miss Wheelock was teacher of the 
school, and among the pupils was a somewhat wayward 
girl, the child of a woman known as " Mother Marean," 
who used to go out by the day washing. It became 
necessary for Miss Wheelock to punish this pupil one 
day, and she did so, not unreasonably however, but the 
maternal Avrath was excited. " Mother Marean " was 
quite sure her child was punished only because she was 
the washerwoman's daughter, and thereupon she pro- 
ceeded to the neighborhood of the school-house, and 
when school was out pounced upon the unsuspecting 
teacher as she turned the corner of the street and 
tumbled her into the brook, administering at the same 
time a smart castigation with a bunch of nettles on face 
and neck, an exploit for which she was tried, convicted, 
and served a term in Dedham jail. 

It was not long before it was found necessary to oc- 
cupy both school-rooms in the winter, as the farmers' 
boys attended school then, under the master, and the 
girls and young children were numerous enough to need 
the female teacher the year round. 

There were abundant facilities for amusement about 
the vicinity of the old school-house both in summer and 
winter. We have alluded above to the shady brook at 
the entrance to Aspinwall Avenue, which was a favorite 
place for the children to play. Besides this the open 
brook on the south side of Harvard Street, which came 
out from under the low stone wall and spread itself out 
over a shallow pebbly bottom before it made the dark 
plunge under the road, was always a safe and pleasant 
place for those who loved to paddle in its waters. This 



" THE LONG COAST." 91 

was where the unfortunate teacher took her invohmtary 
bath. 

Then under the barberry bushes, near by, were cosy 
little nooks where the girls made themselves happy with 
dolls and bits of broken china or glass, and very proud 
were those who could bring small pieces of board and 
bright squares of carpeting to cover them, for seats in 
these play-houses. Of course ball, hoops, jump-ropes, 
and kites were as popular then as now, but these other 
amusements filled up the intervals. 

But the great source of winter amusements was '•' the 
long coast." The hill, east and south of the school-house, 
extended to a point about half way between the pres- 
ent High and Grammar school-houses, and the Public 
Library ; and was about the height of the roof of the 
Grammar school-house. From that high ridge it sloped 
gradually down close to the school-house and then came 
a sudden depression Avhich the boys called " the jounce.''^ 
This slope formed the long coast, and the new impetus 
given by ^' the jounce," sent the sleds to the corner of 
Harvard Street. Here the Avail and the bushes pre- 
vented further progress, as one of our young men, if not 
more, probably remembers, having tried the calibre, of 
that wall with his head, seriously to the damage of the 
latter. 

Below the jounce, on the right of the coast, was a deep 
hollow, which contained water enough to be called '' the 
pond," the greater part of the year, and when the spring 
rains and snows melting from the hill filled up the pond 
till it was level with Harvard Street, all sorts of rafts were 
improvised by the bo3^s, and merry times Avere had poling 
about over its surface. By varying the course of the sleds 
a little they could be sent shooting across the icy surface 
in Avinter. 



92 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

In the hottest part of summer the bottom of this hol- 
low was about dry, and covered with great bunches of 
rushes. In our childhood, in hunting about among the 
rushes one day, we noticed a smoothly-rounded surface 
just above the soil between the bunches in one spot, — 
something hard, which did not seem to be a stone. By 
dint of considerable digging with a stick, it finally was 
thrown up and proved to be a six-pound cannon ball, well 
rusted. We carried it home Avith nearly as much rever- 
ence as we Avould have carried the bones of Washington, 
not doubting our treasure was a Revolutionary cannon- 
ball from old Fort Sewall, but were sadly disenchanted 
on learning that the location would have made it impos- 
sible, and our venerable relic was thenceforth old iron, 
'-'• only that and nothing more." 

In front of the old school-house and just where Pros- 
pect Street slopes downward toward School Street, was 
'' the short coast," only it was much steeper than the 
present grade, and came out between posts where the 
rails had been removed. This was much frequented by 
the smaller children. Opposite the school-house, just 
across the road, there stood behind a low wall a russet 
apple tree which spread its low branches wide and made 
a good shade. Here the hard green apples were pounded 
on the wall till the juice flowed, when they were pro- 
nounced " mellow," and eaten with appetites such as are 
seldom brought to the more savory viands of later years. 

But near the lower end of the street, on the west side, 
there stood close to the wall, on the same field, two large 
trees which bore tiny red sweet apples. The late Mr. 
Bartlett carried on this farm for many years, and always 
allowed the children all the fruit they could get from these 
trees, and lucky was the boy or girl who arrived first in 
the morning and secured "the lion's share" of the spoils 



" THE master's school." 93 

and then practiced munificence or meanness when the rest 
came, as the natural disposition prompted. 

Water for the use of the school was brouglit twice a 
day from Mr. Hall's, at the corner of School and Wash- 
ington streets. In the large open shed to this house Avas 
the pump, and few if any children ever passed without 
stopping for a '^ drink of water ; " real thirst had little to 
do with it we imagine. 

A pleasant excitement was occasionally created in the 
school-room by the downfall of the entire length of stove- 
pipe, with a crash and a dust, only second to an earth- 
quake, to childish imaginations. Then Mr. Hall was sent 
for to put it up again, and it was quite delightful either 
to sit and watch the process, or be sent out to play while 
it was going on. Anything was a godsend whicli broke 
up the routine and monotony-. 

In winter, when "the master's school " was kept down 
stairs, it was a great pleasure to the pupils of the upper 
school to go down occasionally to hear " the great boys " 
declaim, and the rounded periods of grand oratory, from 
Cicero to Patrick Henry and Edward Everett were rolled 
out and sent the blood thrilling through childish veins as 
the studied elegance of few orators or actors since has 
caused it to thrill. They were admired, those youn^ ora- 
tors, in the school-room by their youthful audience, but 
how they were feared when out from under the master's 
eye, because they wore long blue frocks, had stentorian 
voices, and kicked foot-ball furiously. There were many 
changes of masters, a new one being hired almost every 
winter. What would be thought in the present days of 
school courtesy, of a teacher who should throw an open 
knife across the school-room at a disorderly pupil, or 
launch a mahogany ruler at another, which striking upon 
a desk should split, and inflict so serious a wound upon 



94 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

the victim that a strong boy should faint at the sight? 
Yet such events as these have occurred within thirty years 
in this school-house, and the teacher continued his school 
through the winter, only being advised to slightly modify 
bis methods of discipline. The rattan and the cane were 
in daily and almost hourly use, but the schools were far 
less quiet and orderly than at present. 

There was no teacher so thoroughly identified with the 
building as iNIiss Catherine, daughter of Charles Stearns, 
Sen., of this town, who taught the year round for twenty- 
five years. In all this time she never lost a day by ill- 
ness. The scliools were of course ungraded in her time, 
and the pupils were from four years old upwards, as long 
as they chose to attend. The amount of real work, hard 
work, done in this school seems marvelous. There were 
from fifty to sixty pupils during the several years of the 
writer's familiarity witli it, and there were four classes in 
reading and spelling besides " the little children." 

Written Arithmetic was taught as far as simple inter- 
est. Mental Arithmetic, Grammar, Geography, History 
of the United States, Goodrich's Universal History, Nat- 
ural Philosophy, Roman Antiquities and jMythology, 
Blake's Astronomy, Composition, Map-drawing, and 
Writing, each received attention, and there was no lack 
of thorough reviewing. These studies were not all pre- 
scribed by the School Committee, but great freedom of 
choice was left to the teacher and first class. 

The elder pupils often rendered the teacher assistance 
in instructing the younger ones. Besides all this, needle- 
work was allowed, and Miss Stearns often fitted her pupils' 
work out of school hours, this being wholly gratuitous 
service. After the school had above sixty regular pupils 
Miss Emily Reed was appointed assistant to Miss Stearns. 
Soon after, she was appointed principal in another school. 



KEV. DR. PIERCE. 95 

and for thirty years gave this town her best energies. 
Both these ladies were conscientious and hiborious teach- 
ers, yet for many years the highest price paid them was 
but two doUars and a half a week. 

During a period of many years, there was a Prudential 
Committee, but the entire management of literary affairs 
connected with the schools devolved upon Rev. Dr. Pierce, 
the minister of the First Parish for fifty years. 

Rev. Mr. Shailer of the Baptist Church was also active 
in school matters during the entire period of his residence 
in the town, but Dr. Pierce being many years his senior, 
was always authority in all open questions, and for years 
was the only active committee man. He it was who 
visited the schools, examined the pupils in their studies, 
and made such suggestions as were deemed expedient. 

His visits were received with great delight by most of 
the pupils, mingled with a sense of awe, and a great de- 
sire to please. What a hush fell upon the buzzing and 
restless school when his step was heard ascending the 
school-house stairs. He rapped upon the door with the 
head of his cane, and as the teacher opened the door the 
pupils were expected to rise, and remain standing while 
the venerable gentleman walked up the aisle to the plat- 
form, set his cane in one corner, hung his hat upoii the 
top of it, and seated himself at the teacher's desk. We 
said venerable, for Dr. Pierce was venerable long before 
he was old. His snow-white hair and his dignity of man- 
ner impressed even the most careless, yet he was never 
feared by the children, as fault-finders are feared, though 
he was a good critic. 

How he puzzled the grammar class with all sorts of in- 
tricacies, and how delighted he was when we could man- 
age the knotty passages in parsing " Thompson's Sea- 
sons." How he brought forth an inexhaustible series of 



96 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

hard words for the spelling classes from his wonderful 
memory, and delighted in confronting us with some jaw- 
breaking proper name from the Old Testament. He 
capped the climax one day by giving out to the first class, 
"Honorificabilitudinitatibusque." To his astonishment 
one pupil had heard the word before and could spell it, in 
the old style, going back to the first syllable in pronoun- 
cing it after every successive syllable. Then his love of 
antiquities, and his wonderful memory of dates and anec 
dotes, made him most entertaining, as all his teaching and 
examining were interspersed with these varieties as they 
were suggested by whatever might be in the lessons. 
When he had criticised the classes and told his stories, 
and his rich sonorous voice had joined the childish ones 
with " Greenville " or " Old Hundred," he rose to go, 
and the school, rising, remained standing while he passed 
out, bowing right and left as he went. " Thou shalt rise 
up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old 
man." Young America needs many a lesson to-day in 
common courtesy to the aged. Of the pupils who figured 
conspicuously in this old school, a volume might be writ- 
ten, but this is not the time or place, for most of them are 
still gi appling with the problems of life. But there are 
still tenderly remembered, the sweet yovmg girls who 
faded early from sight and fell asleep before sorrow or 
care cast a shadow over them ; and brave and manly boys 
who went forth to serve their country and Avhose fate is 
marked by a little flag and a withered wreath in yonder 
cemetery. 

But we must take leave of the old school-house. It 
overfloAved into the town hall, and the old stone school- 
house in Walnut Street, and still the children came, 
springing up like Roderick Dhu's men, till the town pro- 
vided new and ample accommodations ; and the old build- 



GOOD-BY TO THE OLD SCHOOL-HOUSE. 97 

ing, no longer wanted, was sold to George W. Bird, the 
apothecary, in 1855, who moved it to its present location 
and altered it into the dwelling and shop now occupied 
by A. A. Cheney, watchmaker. One would think his 
clocks and watches might catch the echoes of the old 
walls, and be heard in the stillness of night ticking out 
the spelling book and striking the changes of the multi- 
plication table. 



o 



98 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE SHARPS. CURIOUS OLD PAPERS. THE SEWALLS. ED- 
WARD DEVOTION. CAPTAIN WINCHESTER. THK GRIGGS 

FAMILY. HARVARD STREET, CONCLUDED. 

T E AVING School Street to proceed up Harvard Street, 
^^ we find the first house to be that of Esquire Sharp, 
on tlie left hand side, standing now next to Cousens' 
Block, but formerly on the high bank at the entrance to 
Harvard Avenue, on the left. The only other house on 
that side of the street before arriving at the present site 
of the house of William Griggs, was the house of Cap- 
tain Robert Sharp, on the site of the present house of J. 
C. Abbot, Esq. (We are writing now of forty or more 
years ago.) On the north side of the street was no house 
from Aspinwall Avenue to the house occupied by Charles 
Stearns, Sen. All the land on both sides belonged to the 
Sharps. This name, like that of many of the other old fam- 
ilies, is extinct ; but through a line of female descendants, 
the ancient Sharps " still live," in the families bearing 
the names of Clark, Davis, Jones, and Craft, in this town, 
and through the Buckminsters, in the families of Rev. Dr. 
Lothrop, George B. Emerson, and Judge Lowell, of Bos- 
ton and Brookline. 

We will go back more than two hundred years, and 
trace downwards something of the family history. Robert 
Sharp was of English origin, and came to Boston in the 
ship Abigail in 1635, from London, aged twenty years. 
It Avould seem that he lived at Dorchester for a wliile, as 



i 



THE SHARPS. 99 

lie came from there to Brookline, or Muddy River, in 
1650, with Peter Aspinwall, and the two bought a great 
tract of land, one hundred and fifty acres, of William 
Colborn. The ancient deed, bearing the above date, is 
still preserved in the Aspinwall family. Harvard Street 
Avas not then laid out, and School Street was but a part 
of the lane leading to the Aspinwall house from the 
" Watertown road," as Washington Street was then 
called. Four years later Harvard Street was laid out 
through their farms, and the Davis property, etc. ; 
" Peeter Asppenwall," William Davis, and others ap- 
pointed b}^ the town authorities of Cambridge being au- 
thorized to lay out the street. 

The ancient dwelling house of the Sharps was near the 
present corner of Harvard and Auburn Streets, on what 
is now Mr. Harris's lawn. The old cellar, and an Eng- 
lish cherry tree which was near it, were to be seen within 
the memory of persons now living. Robert Sharp died 
in 1654, and in 1656 we find recorded a petition of his 
widow, who has already consoled herself with a second 
husband, that "Peter Aspinwall and Thomas Meekins " 
be appointed guardians for her three minor children, John, 
Abigail, and jNIary. It is proposed that ^Aspinwall " take 
ye two daugl iters and finde them meate, drinke anel ap- 
parell, learne them to reade, to knitt, to spine, andTsuch 
Housewifery, and keepe them either to ye day of marriage 
or until ye age of eighteene ; for which said ' Peeter ' 
is to have ye vse and profitt of ye house and land, yt was 
said Sharps, only ye said Peeter besides bringing up ye 
said daughters, in consideration of ye benefit of said house 
and land, alow ye sonne <£5 per annum. (Thomas Meek- 
inne's had the sonne to bringe up to his trade.)" Signed 
January 15, 1656, witnessed by Abigail Clapp, Relicte and 
Administratrix to the Estate of the late Robert Sharp." 
Nine years later, on April 15, 1665, we find a petition of 



100 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

the mother that the guardians be discharged, they having 
fulfilled their trust. At this time John, the eldest, is 
twenty-two years of age and married, Abigail seventeen 
and Mary twelve. 

We hear no more of the " sonne John," till the begin- 
ning of the year 1676, when he writes a letter to his old 
guardian, Thomas Meekins, which we copy entire for its 
exquisite quaintness. 

[Address.] " This for Loving Master Thomas Meekins living 
at Hatfield. This deliver. 
"Loving and Much Respected Master: — 

" My love' is remembered to you and my dame hoping you are 
wel as I am at the writing hereof, blessed be God for it. My 
wifF desiars to be remembered unto you and my dame, and wee 
are yet in our habitation through Gods marsi, but we are in ex- 
pectation of the enimi everi day if God be not the more marsi- 
ful unto us. 

" I have been out 7 weeks myself and if provisions had not 
grown short we had folood the enimi into your borders, and 
then I would have given you a visit if it had been possibel, for 
I went out a volintere under Captain Wadsworth of Milton, but 
he is coled hom to recrout about their owne town, so I left off 
the desire at present. 

" There is many of our friends taken from us. Cap Jonson of 
Roxberi was shiine at Naragansit, and Will lincoln died before 
his wound was cured ; filip Curtis was slane at a wigwame about 
Mendham, but we have lost but one man with us these wars. 
My mother hose is ded and my sister Swift. I pray remember 
my love to John Elis and his wiff, and the rest of our friends, 
and however it is like to fare with us God knows, and wee de- 
siare to corait all our affairs into his hands. 

" So having nothing els desiaring your praiars for us, I rest, 
" Your Sarvant, John Sharpe.* 

"Mudiriver 8 of the 1 mo. 1676." 
* Dr. Pierce, in his ToAvn Hall Address, 1845, speaks of the Lieutenant who 



LIEUT. JOHN SHARP. — ROBERT SHARP. 101 

On the eighteen til of April following, occurred the 
memorable fight at Sudbury, in which Captain AVadsworth 
and Lieutenant Sharp were both killed. Those who are 
familiar with the history of King Philip's War will re- 
member the horrible atrocities practiced upon the wounded 
in this battle. It is only to be hoped that poor John 
Sharp was killed outright, early in the contest. 

The old stone which formerl}^ marked the spot, bore the 
following inscription : — 

" Ciipt. Samuel AVadsworth of Milton, his Lieut. Sharp of 
Brooklin, and twenty-six other souldieis, fighting for the defence 
of their country were slain by the Indian enemy April 18, 1G7G, 
and lye buried in this place." 

A few years since a tasteful monument was erected 
upon the spot. 

Lieutenant John Sharp left four children, Robert, 
William, Martha, and Elizabeth. The son Robert mar- 
ried Sarah Williams of Roxbury. Li 1690 a campaign 
was planned against the Indians at the north, in which he 
bore a part. A writing which lies before us, from his 
own hand, is worth transcribing. It is as follows : — 

"Know all men by these presents that wliereas, 1, R,obert 
Sharp of mudyriver in the county of Suffolk in newinglaiid be- 
ing bound out to the warr, and leaving some conserns behind 
me, doe therefore ordain and constitute my loveing father Steven 
Williams of Roxbury in the counti aforesaid my lawful! attorny 
for and in behalf of myseulf in all things to act and doe in all 
things both to pay and receive debts, and to plead and to be im- 
pleaded and to be discharged and to give discharges, to imprison 

fell at Sudbury, as " Robert Sharp." This was incorrect. See Town Records 
of Sudbury, and Eliot Church Records of Roxbury, quoted in " New Enjiland 
General Register," vol. xi. p. 257. All the old writings prove his name to have 
been John. 



102 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

and to be imprisoned, and in all things to act and doe as my lawful 
attorny for my advantage and to lett out my lands and to take 
rents and to sell and dispose as if it were myseulf, and in all and 
everi respect as is above expressed I doe leaue my conserns for 
the time of one yeer after the date hereof if I return not in 
witness of the premises I have hereunto set my hand and affixed 
my seal this 16 of aprill 1690. Robart Sharp." 

" Witnes. Andrew Gardner, Samuel Craft, Sen." 

Like his father this Robert " returned not ; " he per- 
ished in the expedition to Canada. 

The bones of Robert Sharp had not had time to whiten 
in the Canadian forests, before his widow married Mr. 
Thomas Nowell. She seems to have been unfortunate in 
her husbands or fatal to tliem, for in 1694, less than four 
years from the time her first husband went to the " ivarr^^^ 
she was the widow of Thomas Nowell and made a will in 
favor of her children by Robert Sharp, of which we will 
transcribe one clause only. 

" I, Sarah Nowell, the relict of Mr. Thomas Nowell, late of 
Muddy River in their Majesties Province of Massachusetts Bay 
in Newengland deceased, being about to intermarry again with 
Mr. Solomon Phipps, son of Mr. Solomon Phipps of Cambridge^ 
& &c, I do therefore by these presents before my said intermar- 
riage, for and upon divers good and weighty causes, reasons and 
considerations me thereunto moving. And also that I may 
testify and demonstrate the naturall love and affection which I 
have unto Robert Sharp and Sarah Sharp the children which I 
had by my former husband Robert Sharp, And that I may faith- 
fully discharge that duty unto which both by the law of God 
and nature I stand obliged by providing as well as for their 
future good and comfort as well as for my owni, and also for their 
decent and laudable education if it should please God to take 
me away from them or deprive me of doing any further for them, 



THE BUCKMINSTERS. 103 

I do therefore by these presents aforesaid not privately, but with 
the knowledge of the said Mr. Solomon Phipps make, ordain, 
and constitute this my will for the attainment of the ends pre- 
mized in manner and form followinsf." 

The will then goes on to bequeath all " the housing 
and lands " to Robert, and sixty pounds in money to 
Sarah, with twenty additional pounds, to be paid to lier 
by Robert at two different times after he comes of age. 
Sarah also was to receive various household goods, includ- 
ing " one silver cup, three silver spoonds, three gold rings 
and one silver girdle " — whatever that might be. 

There lies before us the bill of sale of " a neagroe 
Woman named Rose," which the above mentioned ]\Ir. 
Thomas Nowell purchased of a Mrs. Abigail Davis in 
1G93, which piece of property this enterprising widow 
probably retained for herself, as there is no mention made 
of such a chattel in the will. 

As there is no occasion to follow the ividoio further, we 
return to the children of the Lieutenant. William, it 
seems, on coming to manhood removed to Pomfret, Conn., 
and some years afterwards sold out all his Brookline in- 
heritance to his nephew, Robert, his brother Robert's son. 
He was a resident here in 1704, as his name is on the pe- 
tition for a separate township from Boston. Martha 
Sharp was destined to be the ancestor of a distinguished 
posterity. She married Joseph Buckminster, a native of 
this town, and they removed to Framingham, then the 
outskirts of civilization, and lived the life of pioneers. 

Her son Joseph was a colonel in the army, was a se- 
lectman of that town twenty-eight years, and town clerk 
thirty years. For thirty years he also represented the town 
in the General Court and died when over eighty, beloved 
and respected. Her grandson AVilliam, son of the above- 
mentioned colonel, was a distinguished man. He, too. 



104 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOFCLINE. 

held the office of colonel, and commanded a company of 
minute men from Barre, at the battle of Bunker Hill, and 
was wounded there. 

Another of Martha Sharp's grandchildren, a brother 
of the last mentioned, was a clergyman, and from him in 
a direct line descended the distinguished Dr. Joseph 
Buckminster of Portsmouth, and his son Rev. Joseph S. 
Buckminster, the beloved and talented young minister of 
Brattle Square Churcli in Boston, who died so deeply 
lamented. 

His sister, Eliza Buckminster, wife of the late Thomas 
Lee of this town, was the author of '' The Life of the 
Buckminsters, " '' Naomi," " Parthenia," and other works. 

As Martha Sliarp's descendants are still numerous, in 
most cultivated circles, others among them may yet dis- 
tinguish themselves for culture or patriotism. 

As we have found no record of Elizabeth Sharp's mar- 
riage it is probable she died single. 

We now return to Robert, the young son of the Robert 
who perished in the Canada expedition. He was but 
two years old when his father left upon the fatal march. 

As soon as we hear of him in his early manhood, after 
his marriage to his wife Susannah, he holds the office of 
constable of this town. Soon after this we find him des- 
ignated as captain. Captain Robert (the third of the 
name it will be remembered), Avas a shrewd, successful 
man in business, as his accounts and other papers indicate. 
The original large tract which his great-grandfather 
bought had been divided and subdivided among the de- 
scendants, and it seems to have been his great aim to re- 
cover as much of it as possible, as from time to time 
deeds were recorded showing that he had nuide purchases 
of various lots varying from a few rods to several acres. 
He also boarded or pastured sheep, cattle, and horses in 



ANCIKNT ACCOUNT-BOOK. 105 

great numbers for people living in Boston. All the land 
fi-om the corner of School and Washington streets, on 
the north side, to a line above Park Street, extending 
across beyond Harvard Street, to the Longwood marshes 
along the river, above the Aspinwall lands and belovr the 
present Stearns' lands was at one time his property and 
was probably most of it grazing land. A glimpse into the 
prices and customs of those early days in our own town, 
is afforded by these long preserved papers. 

The early settlers, as is well known, were obliged to 
barter instead of giving and receiving cash payments, and 
Captain Sharp did not always get paid in money for his 
" Sider,^^ as we find on his ancient parchment-covered ac- 
count-book the credit which he has given one individual 
for " orringes," another for ''naels," another for a ••' gren- 
.ston and a pair of stillyards." In one place he allows 
ten pence for one " orring," and in another two shillings 
and eight pence for four. 

The explicitness mth which the expense of each item 
of an outfit of clothing is recorded, in the quaint old spell- 
ing of those da3^s, is entertaining. We give a specimen. 

" Paid Thomas Shaile for Cloas. 

£ s.d. 

For a hatt . . ^ 3 3, (^ 

For a shurt . . * 9 6 

For Britches 15 

For Stockens ...... 3 G 

For a coat 2 

Thus the " cloas," it will be seen by reckoning a little, 
cost a little less than thirty dollars, in United States 
money. 

In another place is the receipt which Abigail Story, a 
long-forgotten school teacher, gave Captain Sharp for £S 
16s. for keeping school. 



106 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Mr. Sharp had hired laborers who came and went as 
farm hands do now, but he also had a man who was bound 
by indenture to him by his master, Joseph Little, of Bos- 
ton, for three years. This man is described in the inden- 
ture as " Dunkan Mackeever late of Bellenock in the 
county of lonon Derry," and the writing obliges Captain 
Sharp to " supply his said servant with Sufficient meat. 
Drink, w^ashing, lodging and apparrel fitting for such a 
Servant, and at the end of Said Term sliall Dismiss his 
said Servant with two suits of apparrell suitable for Every 
part of his body." This is signed by " Duncken Ma- 
Keever." 

But the Captain's good wife Susannah needed help in 
the great farm-kitchen, and it was obtained on this wise : 

Boston March 12, 1749. 
Received of mr. Robart Sharp iun Ninety-eaight Pounds old 
tenor in full for a Negro girl named Luce beLonging to the 
Estate of Mr. Hez'h. Barber. 

(Signed.) Eunice Lanerd. 

An old order issued by the assessors of this town to 
Constable Robert Sharp in 1719, instructs him to collect 
the sum of thirty pounds from the inhabitants of the town 
for the town expenses of that ye^r. 

Captain Sharp built and occupied a house which stood 
on the site of the present residence of J. C. Abbott, Esq. 
It was a large square house, was never painted, except 
the window frames, which being white made the house, 
which was black with age, a very conspicuous object on 
Harvard Street. It remained there until about twenty- 
five years ago. 

Captain Sharp died in 1765, aged seventy-seven years. 
He left a son Robert and four daughters. 

The will left by Captain Robert Sharp proves him to 



THE SHARP FAMILY. 107 

have been a man of wealth for those days, and in it he 
provides abundantly for his " beloved wife Susannah," 
and puts in a clause which allows, or enjoins her to be- 
stow all that is over and beyond her own requirements 
upon such of her children as treat her best. There was 
real estate belonging to this family in the town of War- 
wick, Mass., which was then called " Gardner's Canada," 
it being a part of a large tract in the northwest part of 
the State which was assigned to soldiers (or their heirs) 
who served in the Canada expedition. Ashburnham, it 
will be remembered, was a part of the same tract and was 
called " Dorchester-Canada." 

Among other effects which the Captain left to his wife 
was a negro slave, Jane, and a silver tankard. This silver 
tankard was presented by Mrs. Sharp to the First Con- 
gregational Church in this town in 1770 and is still pre- 
served. She did not long survive her husband. 

All the '' housing and lands " became the property of 
the son Robert, who it seems by old papers still extant 
was kind to his mother, and carried out his father's inten- 
tions with regard to the property. 

The fourth Robert Sharp married Sarah Payson of 
Roxbury, by whom he had ten children, four of whom 
died in infancy. The eldest, Robert, died without cliil- 
dren, and at this point the family name of Robert ceases. 

The second son, Jacob, was married, but died at the 
age of twenty-nine, in the year 1775, no doubt in the ser- 
vice of the country. 

The third son, Stephen, became a prominent man in 
Brookline and is still well remembered by many persons 
now living as Esquire Sharp. 

This Avas the person to whom allusion has been made 
as the owner of the large square house whicli stood until 
recentlv on the left of the entrance to Harvard Avenue, 



108 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

from Harvard street, and is now standing next to Cousens' 
Block, on the same street, and occupied as a tenement 
house. On the left side of Harvard Avenue on the site 
of the garden of Mr. M. C. Warren, was a house which 
Esquire Sharp had finished off from a shed, and afterwards 
enlarged for a, farm-house, to be occupied by whoever he 
hired to carry on his large farm. This house was moved 
to School Street, several years ago, where it still remains, 
opposite Mr. Matthews' residence. 

Esquire Sharp was never married. He was a teacher 
in the little old school-house in School Street for many 
winters, was a justice of the peace and town clerk for 
many years. It will be remembered that this was the 
man who brought Tom Cook to grief for stealing the 
goose, as mentioned in a former chapter. 

The 'Squire was a somewhat stern and gruff man in 
his ways, and not very popular with the children of the 
neighborhood, and was known by them by the nickname 
'' arumpijr He died in 1820. 

From his sister Lucy, who married into the Davis fam- 
ily, descended Captain Robert Sharp Davis, whose son of 
the same name is now living in Brookline. 

From another sister (Mary) descended the present 
Jones family of Brookline, and the Clarks of Walnut and 
Warren Street. The eldest daughter married Caleb Crafts 
of this town, and her descendants are still living, though 
not in Brookline. 

Thus it will be seen that this ancient family, now so 
numerous, are all traced directly back in an unbroken 
jin3 to the Robert Sharp who came from England in the 
Abigail in 1635, and beyond that the family is traced to 
Robert Sharp of Ishngton, England, as far back as 1534. 
Few New England families are probably able to trace 
their ancestry so far and so creditably. 



ESTATE OF CHIEF JUSTICE SEWALL. 109 

The old unpainted house previously alluded to, on the 
site of J. C. Abbott's residence, was occupied after Cap- 
tain Sharp's death by Major Joseph Jones who liad mar- 
ried into the family. Several years after ^lajor Jones's 
death the farm was improved by his son Stephen S. C. 
Jones, afterwards postmaster of Brookline. In the inter- 
val between, it was in the hands of JNIoses Jones, who 
became unrivaled as a farmer, subsequently, in Cypi'ess 
Street. The old house, black with the storms of many 
years, was taken down about thirty years ago. 

Stephen Sharp's residence passed into possession of his 
nephew, the late Samuel Crafts, of this town, and was oc- 
cupied by him for many years, and these two estates were 
spoken of as "tlie Jones" and "• the Crafts farms," until 
cut up into house lots and divided by many streets and 
avenues. 

The next estate on Harvard Street, in former times was 
that of Chief Justice Sewall, comprising three hundred 
and fifty acres of land, most of it being now known as 
Lono^wood. It extended from Harvard Street to Charles 
River, and from the Aspinwall and Sharp Estates to 
Pleasant Street. This property came into the posses- 
sion of the Judge by inheritance. The earliest owner of 
this great portion of our town was John Hull, who lived 
in a house somewhere in the neighborhood of the Sears 
Church, or Gospel Church, Longwood. He Avas a poor 
boy, but his devotion to his widowed mother caused the 
Rev. John Wilson, the first minister of Boston, to predict 
for him a prosperous future. The prediction was verified. 
John Hull became Master of the Mint in Boston, an opu- 
lent merchant and a large landowner. He was highly 
respected throughout the colon3^ He married Judith, 
daughter of Edmund Quincy, the first of that distin- 
guished family in tliis country. It is said that he was the 



110 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

designer of the coat of arms of Massachusetts, — an In- 
dian with a bow and arrow, — and also of the famous pine- 
tree shilhngs. 

Chief Justice Sewall married for his first wife, Hannah, 
the only daughter of John Hull, and thus came in pos- 
session of the large estate which John Hull owned in this 
town. 

When the marriage took place, the bride received from 
her father as a wedding present, her ^veight in pine-tree 
shillings ! How heavy she was we are not informed, but 
at all events her dowry seems to have been a substantial 
one. 

John Hull died in 1683. A poem written upon his 
death by Rev. Daniel Gookin, son of the Major-general, 
is entitled, '' A fcAV Shadie Meditations occasioned by the 
death of the deservedly honored, John Hull Esq., who 
was removed from his earthly tabernacle, to be an inhab- 
itant of the house not made Avith hands eternal in the 
heavens, 30 September, 1683." 

A notice of his wife's death, supposed to be by Rev. 
Cotton Mather, reads as follows, — 

"Mrs. Judith Hull, of Boston, N. E., late wife of John Hull 
Esq. deceased, a diligent, constant, fruitful reader and hearer of 
the word of God, rested from her labors, 22 June, 1695, being 
the seventh day of the week, a little before sunset, just about 
the time she used to begin the Sabbath, aged 69. 

Chief Justice Sewall was famous in his day, as one of 
the judges who condemned the Salem witches to death, 
an error in judgment of which he lived to repent bitterly, 
and for which he made voluntary and humble confession 
in public, in the Old South Church in Boston. The 
Judge is represented by his biographers to have been em- 
inent for piety and learning. He died in 1730. 



CHIEF JUSTICE SEWALL. Ill 

An interesting sketch of Judge Sewall's life may be 
found in the " New England Historical Register," vol. i., 
page 105. It would seem from this paper, that the Judge 
was far in advance of his age in perceiving the evils of 
negro slavery, and in courage to denounce it. 

In writing to Judge Davenport, just before he sat 
upon the trial of a white man for killing a negro, he 
made use of language which has the true ring of justice 
in it. We quote, — 

" The poorest boys and gh'ls, in this province, such as are of 
the lowest condition, whether they be English, or Etliiopians, or 
Indians ; they have the same right to religion and life, that the 
richest heirs have. And they who go about to deprive them of 
this right attempt the bombardment of Heaven ; and the shells 
they throw will fall down on their own heads." 

He wrote and published a tract in 1700, called '' Tlie 
Selling of Joseph," which was perhaps the first anti-slav- 
ery document published in the United States. It seems 
strange that a man so clear-headed in his judgment as to 
the rights of the weak and defenseless, could have been 
misled even temporarily in the witchcraft cases, but that 
when he saw his error he had the rare courage and the 
honor to confess it, does credit to his heart. The Judge 
left many volumes of valuable manuscript which are still 
carefully preserved. 

Samuel Sewall, Jr., son of the Judge, lived in a house 
on the site of the present residence of Charles Stearns, 
Esq., which was built in 1703. His son Henry succeeded 
him in the same house. He was a farmer, and held the 
office of Justice of the Peace in this town. He was edu- 
cated at Harvard College, as were also his own three 
sons, Henry, Hull, and Samuel. 

Henry and Hull both died at the age of twenty-four, 
and little is known of them. Samuel was a young law- 



112 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

yer practicing in Boston at the breaking out of our Revo- 
lutionary difficulties, and he became so odious, as a Tory, 
that he was obliged to leave his native land, and ended 
his days in England. He owned real estate in Brookline 
in his mother's right, which was forfeited, he being a 
refugee, and after the war it was sold by the Government. 
It was purchased by Mr. John Heath, the ancestor of the 
present Charles Heath of this town, and has ever since 
been retained by that famil3^ 

The house now occupied by Charles Stearns, Esq., was 
built for Henry Sewall, Jr., and after his death was oc- 
cupied by his daughter, who married Edward K. Wol- 
cott. 

This Wolcott built the old house on the Francis estate, 
near the river, north of Pleasant Street and Brighton 
Avenue, established a race-course there, and kept a pub- 
lic house for several years, and was succeeded in that 
business by his son-in-law Frost. It was not very suc- 
cessful, however, and after a while was abandoned. 

About the time the Mill-dam was projected, a great 
part of the Sewall estate was bought up by the five gen- 
tlemen who were the prime movers in that enterprise, of 
whom Eben Francis was one, in expectation of a rapid 
growth of Boston in that direction and the consequent 
rise of property. But though the Mill-dam was com- 
pleted, contrary to the predictions of the croakers of that 
generation who pronounced it a wild scheme, the ex- 
pected rise of real estate did not follow, and those who 
bought the Sewall property died without seeing their 
hopes realized. It was their misfortune to be in advance 
of the times. 

The elder Charles Stearns, who came here from Chelsea, 
purchased and settled upon the estate now owned by his 
heirs, quite early in the present century, and the Wol- 



JOHN DEVOTION. — EDWARD DEVOTION. 113 

cotts left Brookline ; none of the descendants of Judge 
Sewall being now left in the town, so far as we can learn, 
though there are a few bearing the names of Ridgway 
and Gilbert in Boston. 

Next west of the Sewall estate is situated what has 
been in modern times known as the Babcock farm, but in 
Judge Se wall's day was the property of John Devotion. 

The ancient house is no doubt at least two hundred 
years old. 

John Devotion was a prominent citizen in Muddy 
River, holding various offices, and his name appears upon 
the petition for a separate township. 

Ebenezer Devotion, probably a son of John, became a 
clergyman and removed to Connecticut, and from him 
descended " Grace Greenwood," JNIrs. Lippincott, of liter- 
ary fame. 

After the death of John Devotion, the house was occu- 
pied by his son Edward, and Mary his wife. Edward 
Devotion was a public spirited citizen, and reference to 
the old records of the town will show that he held various 
offices of trust for many years. In the church he was for 
a long period the tithingman. 

The principal duty of this officer was to keep good 
order during divine service, among the children, who sat 
in rows by themselves instead of with their parents. A 
long rod was usually carried by the tithingman, with 
which to touch any delinquent who might become drowsy 
or mischievous. Whether this ancient Brookline tithing- 
man was particularly feared by the youngsters does not 
appear, but he was evidently not unfriendly to children, 
as he adopted a bo}^ and girl, whom he brought up, as he 
had no children of liis own. 

The old house in the village, formerly known as the 
Brewer house, next the brick blacksmith shop, was prob- 



114 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

ably built for Edward Devotion, as lie died in that house 
in November, 1774. 

He left the old house on Harvard Street to the young 
couple whom he had brought up, and who were then 
married. To the Brookline church he left a silver tank- 
ard. 

He also left to the town a sum of money, which at the 
time of its being received in 1762, amounted to " £739 
4s. lawful money," for the use of schools. 

This money was borrowed by the State during the 
Revolutionary war, and when it was paid back to the 
town, it was in depreciated Continental currency. It was 
put at interest however, and in 1845 had accumulated to 
the amount of $4,531.01, which was appropriated to the 
building of the Town Hall, which was to have two school 
rooms in it. 

Why would it not have been well to keep in memory 
this worthy patron of education, by giving his name to 
the old Town Hall ? 

Solomon Hill, the young man to whom Edward De- 
votion left his old house, and some money, did not prove 
to be very enterprising, and before many years lost his 
property and died, very poor, in an old house in the vil- 
lage. The house which Mr. Devotion left to him was 
sold to a man named Marshall who occupied it for a 
number of years, until it was purchased by one of the 
five gentlemen heretofore mentioned as having bought 
the Sewall property. It was hired for some time by the 
late George Babcock, who afterwards bought it, and its 
history since its purchase by him is well known. 

The house is a curious old relic of former times, and 
the beautiful elms which shade it were no doubt set out 
by the hands of the ancient owner, whose devotion to 
the interests of his church and town, suggest the idea 



THE WINCHESTERS. 115 

that a similar characteristic in his ancestry may have 
earned for the family its very uncommon name. 

A sister of Edward Devotion married a Ruggles of 
Roxbury, and old papers are extant in which her son 
Edward Ruggles, of that place, presents claims for prop- 
erty left him by his uncle, which had not been settled. 

In an ancient paper found between the floors of the 
old house once occupied b}^ Deacon Benjamin White, 
which was taken down in 1809 (on the site of General 
Lyman's house), is found the order of the seats in the 
First Church, in 1719, where Mr. Edward Devotion's seat 
is mentioned " as on the men's fore-seat in the body- 
seats," and his wife's place in the " women's fore-seat," 
according to the unsocial and strange old practice of 
separating husbands from wives, and parents from chil- 
dren during religious service. 

There are modern churches in which employment could 
be found for several tithingmen, notwithstanding the im- 
proved methods of arranging families during divine ser- 
vice. 

THE WINCHESTERS. 

The name of Winchester was a prominent one in the 
early history of Brookline. The family was scattered 
throughout the town, and Harvard Street was probably 
the place of the first settlement. The family was of 
Welsh descent and emigrated to this country jit a very 
early date. On the site of the present residence of Wil- 
liam Griggs, Esq., stood until some thirty years ago an 
ancient, unpainted house, black with age. 

This house was the residence of John Winchester, the 
first representative of Brookline in the General Court. 
All the land from Harvard Street to the top of Corey's 
Hill, and west as far as Brighton line on that side of the 
street, belonged to the Winchesters. It may have ex- 



116 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

tended over upon the south side of the hill for aught we 
know, as there was a house on the site of the stone house 
now owned by the Coreys on Washington Street, which 
belonged to Isaac AVinchester, but w^e leave that side of 
the hill for a future chapter. Corey's Hill was spoken of 
in the early records of Boston and Muddy River as " the 
great hill," and it is certain that for many years the Win- 
chesters were the principal owners of it. It was prob- 
ably well wooded once, as was a great part of the Sewall 
and Sharp farms and the Babcock place. 

Two tall trees which escaped the axe, probably only 
because they were buttonwoods, not good for timber, and 
vexatious for firewood, were left standing on the very 
summit of the hill till they died a natural death not many 
years ago. On one of these for a few of the last years of 
its existence, was conspicuous a bright tin signal, placed 
there by the U. S. Coast Survey, and discernible, when 
the sun's rays fell upon it, far up and down the coast. 

John Winchester being near neighbor to Samuel Sew- 
all, was one of the first to sign the petition drawn up by 
him for a separation of this town from its parent, Boston. 

After his death, his son, Capt. John Winchester, occu- 
pied the homestead, and after him his son Isaac, probably 
the one alluded to above as afterwards living on the other 
side oE the hill. 

After him it came into possession of Samuel Griggs, 
the grandfather of Deacon Thomas Griggs now living on 
Washington Street, and after his death to his son Thomas. 
And there his widow remained, living to a great age, a 
much beloved and respected lady, and for her sake and 
during her lifetime the old house was allowed to remain. 

After her death, over thirty years ago. Deacon Thomas 
Griggs had the old house taken down. 

The branch of the Griggs family represented in this 



JOSEPH GRIGGS. 117 

part of the town are the descendants in a direct hne from 
Joseph Griggs who was born in England in 1G25, became 
a freeman, or member of the church in 1653, in Roxbury, 
and the same year married ^lar}^ a daughter of GritHn 
Crafts. She died almost immediately after, and he mar- 
ried the next year Hannah Davis, likewise of Roxbury. 

The children of this marriage were Hannah, Benjamin, 
Joseph, Ichabod, and Mary. 

From Ichabod Griggs descended Thomas, grandfather 
of the present venerable citizen of that name. There 
has been a Thomas in this family ever since 1715. Joseph 
Griggs, the ancestor above mentioned, lived in that part 
of Brookline village which was then a part of Roxbury, 
as in the Suffolk Registry of Deeds, lib. 24, folio 279, is 
recorded the following Deposition : — 

" Jos. Griggs of Roxbury, aged about 85 years, testifieth 
and saith that about throe score years since he settled at Muddy 
River now called Brooklyne and has lived there and at Roxbury 
ever since, and in all that time has been very well acquainted 
with that tract of land now in farms and proprietys, viz., Capt. 
Sewall, the late Deacon Elliot's Devotions, Clarks and otliers 
lying in Muddy River aforesaid, which was commonly called a 
common field butting on the salt marishes. As to the fence or 
enclosure of said common field this deponent very well remem- 
bers that those persons that owned the upland were at the whole 
and sole charge of the outside range of fence the marisli owners 
refusing to pay any part of the charge and at a meeting of the 
upland and marish owners about forty years since the marish- 
men representing their design to fence the marish from the up- 
land desired the upland owners to he (?) their proportion but 
the upland owners utterly refused it for the reason above men- 
tioned and told the marish owners that if they would fence out 
the marish they must do it at their own cost, and this depon't 
hath never known or understood that the upland owners ever 
bore any proportion of the charge of fencing off the marish, but 



118 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

that they did at all times maintain the outside range of fence 
and the marish men were at the charge of fencin^r the marish 
from the upland. Joseph Griggs, January 21, 1709." 

The dispute was about the fences along the old road- 
way which once skirted the upland from a point this side 
of Chapel Station to what was called Sewall's Point, 
where the fort was afterwards built. Traces of this old 
road are still to be seen in the fringe of trees which 
still borders the edge of the upland north of Chapel 
Station. 

Joseph Griggs died in 1715, at the age of 90. 

Ichabod Griggs had nine children, and was probably a 
man of wealth for his times, as some old papers which are 
extant, show that his son Thomas, who came of age 1726-27, 
received of his guardian, James Clark, the sum of one hun- 
dred and sixty-eight pounds nine shillings as his share of 
his father's estate. The names of Samuel Griggs (his 
elder brother) and Thomas Cotton, appear as witnesses 
on this old receipt. Samuel Griggs settled on Harvard 
Street on the estate now in the Griggs family. It was 
formerly Captain John Winchester's. Thomas Griggs 
married Margaret Williams. From this marriage came 
Moses Griggs, from whom descended that branch of the 
family in this town now represented by the heirs of 
the late David R. Griggs, Samuel Griggs, and Deacon 
Thomas Griggs. From Nathaniel, the youngest son, de- 
scended another branch of the family now represented in 
Brisliton. 

An ancient letter recalls an incident perhaps long for- 
gotten among Nathaniel Griggs' descendants. He was 
born in 1778. The letter referred to was written in 
March, 1799, by a young lady in Brookline to another be- 
longing here but who was on a visit to the family of Dr. 
Goddard in Portsmouth. She tells her story as follows : — 



NATHANIEL GRIGGS. 119 

" One clay the week before last Mr. Nat. Griggs went to Bos- 
ton in the morning with his team and before he got back his 
House, furniture and Cloaths except what he had on his back 
were consumed by fire. His house was all finished but one 
Room. The carpenter had just begun to finish that and went 
over to Mr. Moses Griggs' to get some tools. It is said he was 
not gone more than ten minutes and when he came back the 
House was all in flames, — he left a window open and there was 
a little fire on the Hearth to smoke Bacon, and it 's su})posed 
the wind blew a train of shavinijs into the fire which cauirht the 
house. The Housekeeper was spinning in the kitchen but did 
not perceive the fire till the flames burst in upon her& she jumpt 
out at a window and lost all her cloaths but what she had on. 
But Mrs. Moses Griggs and Mrs. Tom Gardner have been around 
the town to collect Cloaths for her so I believe her loss is in part 

made up if not all When Mr. Griggs got home and 

found his House and all that was in it burnt up (except a few 
things in the cellar were saved) he was ready to sink. One hun- 
dred dollars of money was consumed' some silver, some Bank 
Bills, the Silver was melted into small pieces like shot. But 
one of his Brothers and Ebby Davis went round the next morn- 
ing with a subscription paper & people were very liberal, the 
more so because he was a very industrious young man. Judge 
Dana, of Cambridge gave him eighty dollars, Major Gardner 
forty, Mr. Mason twenty and every body according to their 
ability. ^Some gave him Timber, some boards carried to the 
spot, some bricks, some lime, and in short he is to have a new 
house raised this week and expects to be married before long to 
Nancy Aspinwall. He was finishing his house for her when it 
was burnt." 

He afterwards married accordingly. 

For more than two hundred years there was a Joseph 
Griggs in this ancient family, but this christian name 
seems to have fallen into disuse within the hist half cen- 
tury. This family in its various branches has been al- 



120 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

ways of high standing in the town, having hardly ever 
been without one or more members holding some office of 
trust and honor either in the town or church. One of the 
elder members of the family in the last century was one 
of the founders of the Baptist Church in Newton. The 
present venerable senior deacon of the Baptist Church, in 
this place, was active in the interests of the first church of 
that faith in Roxbury, and when the time came for a sim- 
ilar movement in Brookline, he was one of the first and 
most liberal in the cause. He has also repeatedly held 
the office of Selectman in this town to the entire accept- 
ance of our townspeople. During the second war with 
England, he was in active service as Ensign of the Brook- 
line Company on duty in Boston harbor. 

A young lady of this family, Miss Helen Maria Griggs, 
daughter of Joseph and Sarah Griggs, was eminent as a 
foreign missionary, in the employ of the Baptist denomi- 
nation. Her daughter Harriet is now the wife of Rev. 
Mr. Stephens of the Burmah mission. 

Two of the sons of the former Thomas Griggs, and who 
were born in the old house now occupied by David Cool- 
idge, removed to Sutton, Mass., in their early manhood, 
and there became honored and influential citizens. Their 
descendants are scattered among the towns in that vicinity. 
One or more of them are physicians by profession. Moses 
Griggs, who was before mentioned as one of the sons of 
this Thomas Griggs (father of the late D. R. Griggs), 
settled just within the edge of Brighton, the house being 
the first after crossing the town boundary on the north 
side of Harvard Street. It is not now standing. The 
house which his brother Nathaniel built on the site of the 
one that was burned, is the house which still stands nearly 
opposite the one just mentioned. In these four houses, 
two in Brookline and two in Brighton, but so near the 



THE WINCHESTER HOUSE. 121 

boundary as to be all neighbors, four or five generations 
of Joseph Griggs' descendants have lived, and here many 
of them have died. Samuel Griggs, Jr., brother of the 
present Deacon, removed to Rutland, Vt., where he lived 
to a great age, one of the most earnest and faithful pion- 
eers in that town in all matters of local interest and 
church labor and prosperity. Stephen, the youngest 
brother, was for many years a merchant in London. He 
returned to his native land to enjoy the fruits of his labor, 
but very soon after was drowned in Salem harbor. He 
left a daughter, of unusual talents, and great strength and 
beauty of character. She wrote admirably, and would 
have been distinguished had she lived and chosen to make 
literature a profession, but she did not long survive her 
father, whom she mourned mth a rare and touching de- 
votion. 

The next house on that side of the street, the one now 
owned by David Coolidge, Esq., was built by Nathan 
Winchester, the son of Captain John. It has been added 
to and altered since his day, but the original house is there, 
though much disguised, and its low ceiling and quaint 
architecture mark it unmistakably as one of the few old 
relics of the past, thoroughly identified with the early 
history of our country, and too rapidly passing away._ 

At this house, on the day of the battle of Lexington, a 
detachment of British troops, marching up Harvard Street, 
stopped for water and were served by the frightened in- 
mates, who received no harm. Like its neighbor this 
house came into possession of the Griggs family. The 
ancient doctor alluded to in our sketch of '' the Downer 
house " in the village, came here to live, in the latter part 
of his life. 

Mr. Joshua Griggs, the father-in-law of the present 
owner, Mr. Coolidge, also lived and died here. 



122 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The Winchester family and the Griggs famity are 
both so numerous, and located in so many parts of the 
town, that further mention must be made hereafter of the 
various branches of the families. 

There was still another branch of the Griggs family 
located in Roxbury, near the southwest part of this town. 
They were all from the same English origin and the fam- 
ily coat of arms has within a few years been procured 
from England by some member of the family who was 
interested in Heraldry. 

Further toward Brighton, and on the opposite side of 
the street, near Smelt Brook, there stood formerly a very 
old house, once owned by Amos Gates. He removed to 
Worcester, and tradition does not report what befell his 
house. This brings us to Brighton line or Allston, in 
this direction, and closes the history of Harvard Street. 
The north part of the town has various other points of 
interest, however. 

Pleasant Street, until about twenty-five years ago, was 
%nly a green lane which served to connect Harvard Street 
with Brighton Avenue. The sides of the lane were a 
tangled thicket of wild rose-bushes and raspberry and 
blackberry vines. There were but two houses on Pleas- 
ant Street at that time. On the top of the hill, on the 
site of Mrs. Adams' late residence, stood a large house 
painted a light dull green. There was no beauty or cul- 
tivation around it and no wonder it changed tenants often, 
for it was as unattractive as a barrack, and too isolated 
to be identified with the interests of any neighborhood. 
It was occupied in the summer, several seasons, by Du- 
rivage, of some literary note. The green house took fire 
one day when a high wind was blowing, and was speedily 
destroyed. 

On the corner of Pleasant Street and Brighton Avenue 



^ 



AN ANCIENT HOUSE. 123 

was another house, with a blacksmith's shop attached, 
occupied for years by a thriftless family. We have al- 
luded before to the Francis house, further towards the 
river, once kept as a public house. This was occupied 
for many years by William Dearborn, now of Walnut 
Street, who carried on the extensive farms on that side 
of Brighton Avenue. 

On the right of Brighton Avenue, about half way from 
Pleasant Street to Fourth Street, stood one more house 
belonging to either the Sears or Francis purchase, which 
for several years was occupied by Isaac Dearborn, brother 
of William Dearborn, and afterwards by Rev. Dr. Hague, 
now of Chicago. 

Far down toward the marsh, on land now beloncrinir to 
the LaAvrence estate, near St. Mary's Street, was a most 
ancient house, but by whom built is unknown. It was 
on Judge Sewall's farm and may have been the house of 
John Hull, the ancient mint master of Boston, whose 
daughter became the wife of Judge Sewall, as it is well 
known that he built and occupied a house in that vicinity. 
This house was occupied by a Mr. Easterbrooks in the 
early part of the present century, and afterwards by 
Martin Morse. After ]\Ir. Amos Lawrence purchased 
the place, the old house was taken down. While the 
work of demolition was going on, the workmen found 
behind the great old chimney a number of pine-tree shil- 
lings and ancient Englisli copper money. They had used 
it nearly all to pay their toll from day to day over the 
Mill-dam, before it was known by any one who appreci- 
ated the true value of the coin, and but a few pieces were 
recovered. 

This house was accessible originally by a road which 
skirted the uplands at the verge of the marsh, and of 
which Sewall Avenue was a part. On Sewall Avenue, 



124 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

stood the old house of Col. Thomas Aspinwall, who com- 
manded Fort Sewall a part of the time during the Revo- 
lution, and which was burned some twenty years ago. 

These houses were all which then stood upon the whole 
territory now known as Longwood, except a small house 
on Sewall Avenue, which was once a cider mill and was 
altered into a dwelling house by the late Marshall Stearns. 
It is a matter of regret that the whole farm on the north 
side of Brighton Avenue, commanding as it does a beau- 
tiful and extensive prospect both up and down the river, 
and with the greatest variety of surface and noble old 
shade trees, could not have fallen into the hands of gen- 
tlemen of taste and wealth, and become a fitting precinct 
of beautiful Longwood.* 

Until within thirty years the whole of that part of the 
town was quite wild and picturesque. Within three miles 
of the State House and closely bordering on one of the 
great thoroughfares leading to Boston, it seems strange 
that the dream of the founders of the Mill-dam should 
have so long remained unfulfilled ; but could they see it 
in its present wealth of cultivated beauty and select popu- 
lation, it would seem that they must find that the reality 
had exceeded their anticipations. 

* By an Act of the Legislature of 1873-74, all the territory north of the 
southerly line of Brighton Avenue became a part of Boston. 



holden's house and grounds. 125 



CHAPTER VII. 

WASHINGTON STREET. HOLDEN's HILL. LEED's PLACE. 

DANA PLACE. 

RETURNING to Harvard Square, it will be recol- 
lected by those who have read the early pages of this 
volume, that the old Dana Tavern, though it fronted 
upon the Square, extended somewhat toward Washington 
Street. In the rear of the old tavern, in what is now the 
easterly part of Mr. Panter's yard, was situated in the 
latter part of the last century a wheelwright's shop, oc- 
cupied by Mr. James Holden, the owner and occupant 
also of the house, which has been within a few years re- 
built entirel}^ by Mr. Panter. 

We have not been able to ascertain any facts respecting 
this ground before Mr. Holden's day, and probably his 
Avas the first house built upon that site, as the whole hill, 
including all the ground from Harvard Street to Wash- 
ington and thence to School Street, was once a part of the 
Davis estate. 

Mr. Holden, having married the widow of the third 
Ebenezer Davis, who owned, besides a large part of the 
hill, all that is now Linden Place and a large tract of 
marsh below it, found the pursuits of agriculture more 
profitable than the making of wheels, and thenceforward 
devoted himself to the farm. 

After the old tavern was burnt, if not sooner, the shop 
was removed and the yard in front of the house was 
filled with peach and cherry trees. Cloge to the sidewalk 



126 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

stood an immensely large and high buttonwood tree, 
perfectly straight and symmetrical, and a little east of it a 
fine graceful elm, also of large size. The lowering of the 
road to its present level made it necessary to cut these 
trees down. The buttonwood, like most of its kind, 
suffered from an epidemic about that time and was 
apparently in a dying condition. It was over a hundred 
feet high. Behind the house, and extending up the slope 
of the hill, was a small apple orchard, covering the ground 
now east of Holden Street as far back as the Baptist 
church and a part of what is in Holden Street, only it 
was higher than the roofs of the houses now situated 
there. 

There are many persons who remember Mr. Holden 
and his wife perfectly well, and the great flat boxes of 
cherries containing a bushel or two apiece which used to 
stand along his yard, ready to be loaded upon his wagon 
for Boston market, and later in the season the peaches 
which loaded his trees and blushed in crimson and gold 
from the great baskets and boxes. 

The aged couple preserved their old fashioned customs 
after many of their neighbors had discontinued them, and 
the bright andirons and red bricks made the sitting-room 
cheerful, as the wood fire burned on the hearth in winter, 
and the old kitchen retained its wooden settle alongside 
the wide fire-place long after every neighboring kitchen 
was warmed by a cooking stove. Mr. Holden became a 
Baptist late in life, and was baptized by Rev. Dr. Shailer 
when over seventy years of age. 

The next house also belonged to this estate, and has 
been entirely rebuilt and much enlarged since the death 
of the old people. 

On the opposite side of the street the ground lay open 
as a pasture, belonging to the Davis estate until 1833, 



SETH AND ISAAC THAYER. 127 

when two brothers, Seth and Isaac Thayer, came to 
Brookline, and bought a large tract of ground, and set- 
tled here. 

Mr. Seth Thayer had married into the Davis family, 
however, and his house-lot came in that way. He built 
the house now occupied by ]\Ir. Eastman, lately by ]Mrs. 
Fitz as a boarding school, and his brother Isaac built and 
occupied the house now owned by Mr. Beck, fronting on 
Davis Avenue, formerly Washington Place. 

The two brothers laid out the grounds with taste and 
elegance, terraced the sloping parts, and set out beautiful 
shade and fruit trees. 

For a dozen or twenty years these were the finest 
houses and grounds in that vicinity. There were no 
other buildings on the grounds, the store on the corner 
not being built till the latter part of ]\Ir. Seth Thayer's 
life. 

From the time the front corner was taken for that 
purpose the beauty of the place had departed, and a few 
years after. My. Edwin Field bought another lot next it 
and built the store now occupied by M. Kingman. The 
more recent changes thereabouts are familiar to all. Mr. 
and Mrs. Thayer both died in the house and their large 
family of children are scattered. The second son, John 
Gorham, was a fine, manly boy, very popular among his 
schoolmates ; his handsome face and deep, strong voice 
are well remembered by all who knew him. He had left 
Brookline before the War of the Rebellion, but he en- 
listed in the service and did brave duty as a cavalry offi- 
cer till his health was sacrificed and he retired from the 
army to die. He was brought home to Brookline cem- 
etery, where he sleeps in an honored soldier's grave. 

Theodore A. Thayer, sixth son of Seth T, Thayer, 
was Captain of Company G, Massachusetts Forty-first 



128 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Regiment. Clarence H. Thayer, the seventh son, was 
promoted from Company A, First Massachusetts Regi- 
ment, to rank of Captain in a colored Regiment. He 
died in South Africa in 1873. 

Mr. Isaac Thayer, it will be remembered, bought and 
took down the old Punch Bowl tavern and built ten 
houses in the village. He also at one time owned the 
land now belonging to the town between Holden, Pros- 
pect, and Pierce streets, which was very high and with- 
out trees or buildings. On the summit of this hill he in- 
tended to build an academy. He terraced the southerly 
slope of it and ground was broken for the cellar of the 
proposed building, when his enterprises met sudden re- 
verses and he left town. The whole of the ground now 
owned b}^ the town in that vicinity, was at one time pur- 
chased by Mr. Samuel C. Davis for four hundred and 
fifty dollars. 

After the town purchased the hill, and began to dig 
into it for gravel, it remained for twenty years or more an 
unsightly gravel bank. The top was often used on holi- 
days as a sort of public ground, and for years a cannon 
was fired from there on the morning of the Fourth of 
July, greatly to the excitement and delight of the boys. 
It was a favorite spot also for kite-flying, and many a 
favorite kite has soared from its youthful owner's grasp 
on Holden's Hill, and been wafted away into the un- 
known, a fitting emblem of later losses of what seemed 
more substantial treasures. 

In 1845, enough of the original hill was leveled and 
graded to admit of building thereon the wooden town- 
house now known as the Police Station on Prospect 
Street. There was a great celebration at the " Dedica- 
tion," which took place on the 14th of October. Dr. 
Pierce, of the First Church, was the orator, and his ad- 



THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 129 

dress "bristled with figures," for lie was eminently a man 
of statistics and much valuable information was preserved 
to future generations by his careful compilation for that 
occasion.* Two apartments in this building were fitted 
up for school-rooms and were thus used until the erection 
of the Pierce Grammar School-house. 

The gravel-bank in the rear sloAvly diminished as the 
town had occasion to use the gravel, but it was an un- 
sightly place for several years. The wooden building was 
removed in the spring of 1871, to make room for the new 
Town House. The Brookline Public Library, which began 
in the old Town House, is said to have been the first in- 
stituted under the general statute authorizing towns and 
cities to raise and appropriate money for founding and 
maintaining public libraries. It was established by a 
vote of the town, March 30, 1857. The sum of |934, 
being $1 for each ratable poll the preceding year, was 
appropriated for its foundation ; and an additional sum 
of $233, being 25 cents for each ratable poll, was voted 
for its increase and maintenance during the then current 
year. 

These were the extreme sums which could be legally 
raised by taxation for the purpose. 

The Library was opened in an apartment on the first 
floor of the old Town House, December 2, 1857. It then 
contained 900 volumes, and here it remained until the 
completion of the new and commodious building in 1869. 
The Library during the first thirteen years of its exist- 
ence was under the care of Mr. John E. Hoar as Libra- 
rian. It increased, by donations and appropriations, to 
11,000 volumes, when the new building was ready to 

* The author of this work is greatly indebted to the valuable information in 
the appendix to this address, as to location of ancient houses, and other mat- 
ters of interest. 



130 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

receive it, and since 1870, when the generous fund of 
$10,000 was presented by John L. Gardiner, Esq., the 
number of books has been increased to 16,000. 

The ground on the south side of the street, including 
both sides of Thayer Place, and the site of the Engine 
House, was pasture land and belonged for many years to 
the Thayer estate. It extended southward to Dr. Shurt- 
leff's line, and included the whole space which has been 
so highly improved by Mr. E. C. Emerson. The rocky 
nook, with the brook winding about it, was known for 
years as " Brignal Banks " by many who delighted in its 
picturesque beauty. 

On the north side of Washington Street, from the 
corner of Prospect Street to the grounds of the Public Li- 
brary (and including a small strip of that ground), and 
on the south side of the street, from the Engine House to 
the house of William Heath, was the " Leeds place," so 
called for fifty years or more, prior to 1868. 

In the latter part of the last century and the early part 
of the present one, this place was occupied by a mechanic 
named King, though the ground on the south side of the 
street was then a part of Benjamin Davis's farm. For 
many years Mr. King was the only wheelwright in Brook- 
line. The two taverns brought much business of this kind 
into town, and this man, an excellent workman, had a 
monopoly of his particular line of work. 

He had a large family of children and could have main- 
tained them all comfortably and brought them up, an ad- 
dition to the wealth and prosperity of the town, but for 
the excessive use of liquors, in which he not only indulged 
himself, but to which he brought up his children. From 
the time the little ones left the cradle they were accus- 
tomed to the free use of rum and molasses, both of which 
were kept standing upon the kitchen table, and to which 



THE LEEDS PLACE. 131 

tliey early learned to help themselves. The result was as 
might be expected. The whole family grew up worthless 
hi mind and body, and one by one became town paupers. 

The parents died, but the children were numerous, and 
though they scattered in different places they surely came 
back, in what might have been the prime of life, helpless 
and worthless, for the town to support, till it became a 
question with the selectmen whether Brookline would ever 
see the last of the Kings. The race has been extinct now 
for several years and it were better their memory should 
perish with them, only for the lesson it bears for those sim- 
ilarly tempted. Brookline could furnish material for more 
than one temperance lecture, from more than one class in 
society. 

i\Iore than fifty years ago, the place, of which the 
Kings had been the thriftless occupants, was purchased 
by i\Ir. James Leeds. In his early manhood j\Ir. Leeds 
was a boot and shoe manufacturer, and was the only per- 
son in that business in the place, for several years. 
Later in life he invested his capital in a more extensive 
and profitable business of another sort, in Boston, and 
having acquired a handsome property retired to enjoy 
the fruits of economy and enterprise, and employ his 
leisure in making his surroundings attractive. 

The house, which had been thoroughly refitted and 
ever after kept in repair, was the house a few years since 
removed from the site of the houses of ]\Iessrs. Collins 
and Chase. On the site of the Express stable w^as the 
barn and what was once the shoe-store of ]\Ir. Leeds. 

Mr. Leeds made his place a marvel of cultivation and 
neatness. Choice fruit trees and grape vines were planted 
in every available spot, and the very grass was rich and 
w^avy under successful fertilization. Near the shop door, 
just east of the pump which stood close to the sidewalk, 



132 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

overhung by a cherry tree, were two poplar trees which 
shaded the shop from the glare of the sun, and from one 
to the other a ladder extended horizontally some twenty 
feet from the ground. 

Along this ladder a grape-vine which crept up the 
cherry tree extended its length and let down its tempting 
purple clusters between the green leaves and among the 
rounds of the ladder. Many were the school-children 
who stopped at the pump, and gazed up at the grapes 
like the fox in the fable, but never thought of calling 
them '' sour," for the September rains beat down the 
ripest, and those who picked them up well knew how 
sweet they were. 

Behind the house, the hill rose steep and green and 
well covered with fruit trees, among which was one white 
mulberry. Here, too, was a cluster of three trees from 
one root, in which was placed a small platform with seats 
and a railing around it, a few feet from the ground, and 
very happy were the young people who were so fortunate 
as to be invited to play there. At the foot of the hill, 
behind the house, extended a long trellis of grape vines, 
and on the sunny side of it, above the gravel walk, 
bloomed a gay display of flowers, from the blue and 
white fleur-de-lis of May, and the dark red peony of 
June, to the gorgeous and towering dahlias of late au- 
tumn. 

Two great boxes of hydrangeas bloomed in the front 
yard, half shaded by the cherry trees, and under the par- 
lor-windows blossomed, early in spring, the quaint, old- 
fashioned crown-imperial. Mrs. Leeds was one of those 
people for whom plants always blossom, like Aaron's rod, 
because they cannot help it. 

The very walks from the door to the street, though 
paved with bricks, which always had the appearance of 



THE LEEDS COTTAGE. 133 

being newly scoured and carefully wiped, were gay in 
all their chinks with the bright little pansy, or ladies' 
delight, and not a weed was suffered to show its head. 
The Missouri currant and the yellow rock roses grew on 
either side of the gate, and the crab-apple tree hung its 
pretty little fruit west of the parlor window. 

For years, as closely identified with the place as its 
master and mistress, was their good-natured yellow dog. 
Diamond. 

As long as the daughter of Mr. Leeds remained un- 
married and at home this house was a favorite resort for 
a circle of young people on whose memories every detail 
of this charming old place is minutely photographed . 

On the hill between j\Ir. Leeds' house and Prospect 
Street, fronting Washington Street, stood a cottage which 
he also owned, and which he rented from time to time to 
various tenants. It must be remembered that the hill 
extended from the old Baptist church to School Street, 
behind the row of houses on Washington Street, and 
neither Holden Street or Prospect or Pierce Street was 
then dreamed of. The Leeds cottage was high up on 
the hillside, and approached by three flights of steps in 
the terraces in front. From the southerly windows was 
a delightful prospect. Li the rear was a garden. For 
several years this place was occupied by Mrs. William 
Sturgis of Boston, a lady of much taste, who kept it at- 
tractive with flowers. 

Prospect Street, when first laid out, went only to the 
top of the hill, and was merely a rough cart-road, which 
when the hill was dug down enough to admit the build- 
ing of the Town House, was left high and impassable, lead- 
ing nowhere. 

The digging of this down to its present level, necessi- 
tated the removal of the whole hill west of it, and the 



134 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

lowering of the Leeds cottage, which was set back, al- 
tered into a two-story house, and is now occupied by C. 
W. Bachelder, next the Police Station. 

The land belonging to the Leeds place, on the south 
side of Washington Street, was till so recently a green 
field covered with apple trees that it needs no description. 
No part of the town has altered so essentially or so 
rapidly as this street from Harvard Square to School 
Street within a few years, and it would be difficult for a 
former resident who had been ten years away to identify 
it. 

The grading of the street to its present level, has pro- 
duced a corresponding change on either side. Formerly 
there was a deep depression in the " road " in front of 
the present Library grounds, so that in sleighing time 
scarcely a day passed but some rapid riders came to a 
sudden halt and total discomfiture in going through it. 

The Leeds house was on a bank, and reached by a 
flight of stone steps, while in the field opposite, the hollow 
was so deep as to hold quite a skating pond in winter, 
and late in spring small boys resorted to it to paddle 
about on rafts. 

Not much more than twenty-five years ago there was 
not a house from the Thayer house to the Tolman house, 
corner of Cypress Street. Now there are some forty 
buildings on the south side of the street between those 
two points. 



THE FIRST ENGINE-HOUSE. 135 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.''^ — THE DANA PLACE. MRS. TOLMAN. 

T^HE next place of interest, upon the south side of 
Washington Street, is the lot occupied by the Engine 
and Hook and Ladder Houses, and on which the town 
has lately erected a commodious brick building, which it 
is expected will meet the wants of this part of the town 
in the accommodation of adequate fire-apparatus, for 
years to come. 

Before further mention is made of recent buildings 
there, it will be necessary to go back a little, as the his- 
tory of the fire department properly belongs to "the 
village," that is, below the bridge. The first engine- 
house was situated for several years at the point of junc- 
tion between Walnut Street and what was till lately 
called "Village Lane." It was a little building teivfeet 
by fifteen, and when Mr. Oliver Whyte was about to im- 
prove his front yard, was easily transported to the lot 
between Walnut and Boylston streets, where Quinlan's 
building now stands. About when this transfer took 
place it does not appear. However, it was certainly lo- 
cated on the last mentioned spot in 1820, and for some 
time after, as the last surviving member of the company 
of that date remembered, that a tree which stood upon 
that lot was blown over, and the roots upturning, broke 

* Eewritten March, 1873. 



136 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

a hole through the side of the house, which remained 
unmended as long as the old building stood. 

It will be remembered that about half the old Punch 
Bowl Village was then a part of Roxbury, so the engine 
was owned by both towns, and the men, fifteen in num- 
ber, were chosen nearly or quite equally from the two 
towns. The members " took turns in being Captain," 
like a boy's military company, believing evidently in "ro- 
tation in office." It would be charitable to hope that the 
system worked more successfully in cases of fire, than it 
sometimes does in politics. 

A list of the old " Vigilant " company of 1820, pre- 
sents names familiar to all old residents of this town : — 

Jeremiah Lyon, Captain ; Isaac Davis, Lemuel Foster, 
Wm. H. Brown, Jerathiniel Davenport, James Leeds, 
Reuben Hunting, Reuben Smith, Silas Snow, Robert S. 
Davis, senior, Caleb Clark, Moses Jones, Edward Hall, 
Samuel Slack, Whiting. 

To those of us who remember these individuals only 
as corpulent, or lame, or asthmatic old gentlemen, the 
very idea of any of them running is sufficiently ludicrous, 
to say nothing of working the brakes of an engine, climb- 
ing ladders, etc. But they were all young and vigorous 
then, incredible as it seems. 

It was a fashion they had in those times for each new 
Captain as he came into office, to give a supper to the 
whole company, either at his own house or the " Punch 
Bowl," for in the engine-house there was only room for a 
single row of men to stand around the engine, and those 
suppers were hugely enjoyed by the company. The 
Captain's wife may have had opinions of her own about 
these festivities. 

There came a time at last when the old engine was — 
we hope it is allowable to say it of an engme — " played 



RIVAL ENGINES. — A CHALLENGE. 137 

out," and a new one was to be bought. It was an event. 
The town was astir. The purchase of three new ••' steam- 
ers " would not create such a sensation now as did this 
affair. 

A committee was chosen to make preliminary exami- 
nation ; and Thayer of Boston, and Hunneman of Rox- 
bury, two rival engine-builders, were both conferred with. 

Suction, if then invented, was not aspired to by the 
'' Vigilant " Company, and having but few men it was 
thought best to secure an engine that would work easily. 
All the Roxbury engines were built by Hunneman, but 
the '' Vigilants " decided to take Thayer's, a tub engine. 
All the water was brought in buckets by hand and turned 
into this kind of engine. It was bought, and named 
'''- Norfolk ; " the new engine-house, over the brook where 
jNIahoney's building is, next the depot, a small one-story 
building, was already built some time before. 

All were pleased with the purchase ; but Mr. Hunne- 
man's son came up from Roxbury to see it experimented 
upon, and pronounced it a poor affair, and disparaged it 
generally, — which perhaps might have been expected from 
a man whose business it was '' to throw cold water," and 
whose father didn't build the engine, as he had hoped to. 

The Brookline Company were as sensitive to censure 
of their '^ tub " as sailors about their favorite ship, and 
the affront rankled. 

Shortly after there came a challenge from Roxbury, 
for the " Norfolk " to meet them at " Hog Bridge," for a 
trial. The challenge was accepted, and the men drilled 
for practice. There was such an excitement about it 
that many supernumeraries drilled, so as to be ready to 
take the plac6 of any who might fail from exhaustion. 
Among these was a Mr. Hill, an elderly man, whose 
son was a confectioner in the village. He was a very 
10 



138 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

stout and powerful man, and went into the contest with 
a will. The five engines from Koxbury were all present. 

The contest besran in the forenoon, and continued all 
day, the " Norfolks '' being reinforced by fresh men from 
time to time. Night found them exhausted, but con- 
querors. Roxbury had done its best and could not "wash 
the tub," as firemen express it ; and they took up their 
homeward march with the proud steps of victors. Village 
pride was gratified, and the engine always maintained its 
well-earned reputation. Mr. Hill, however, was too old 
a man for such a strain of muscle and nerve, and he 
never saw a well day afterwards. 

Under date of April 25, 1829, the engine company 
petitioned the towns of Roxbury and Brookline *•' for six 
additional members, making twenty-one in all, taken 
from the militia roll." This was granted. It was also 
" Voted, that on cloudy days when the sun at its setting 
cannot be seen, that its setting be determined by time as 
given by J. Davenport's clock and the ' Farmer's Alman- 
ac' " Also " Voted, that the custom heretofore in prac- 
tice, of the members giving entertainments, be abolished." 

About the year 1838 a new suction engine was pur- 
chased, which was called " Brookline No. 1." The old 
company had all been superseded by younger men, and 
some difficulty occurred about the choice of a foreman or 
captain, and for some little time there was no organ- 
ized company. 

During this interval, in the autumn of 1843, the engine- 
house was fired one night by some miscreant, who secured 
the engine so that there was great delay about moving it. 
TJie house was entirely destroyed, and the engine dam- 
aged. 

Before there was time to have the engine thoroughly 
repaired, the great fire in Church Street, Boston, oc- 



NO. 1 FIRi:-KNT,IXI-: AND HorsK. \:\\\ 

ciin\'cl, jind the bhicki'ii/d inucliiiu' willi its n:iiiie huriit 
off, went to the fire with its name clialkrd on tlir hurk 
of tlie tub, iind did good service. 

Soon after, the town contracted witli Kdwaitl Hall, Jr.. 
a carpenter, who lived on the corner of Washinj^ton and 
School streets, to build a new, two-storv engine-lious**, 
and purchased a lot of land just about where tin* rail- 
road goes under the bridge, the old lot being very small, 
and only over the brook. 

But the owner was unable to give a satisfactory title 
to it, and the bargain was not concluded. Meantim»', tli<* 
timber was already prepared and waiting to be j)ut up, 
and the builder was desirous to fulfill his contract ; and 
Mr. Thayer offered the site of the present brick engine- 
house on Washington Street, for one hundretl <lollars. 
l)rovided it should never be used for any other purpose 
In case of violation of this restriction the land sliould 
revert to the heirs. As no other lot so near tiie village 
was available, it was accepted with tlie restrictions u])on 
it. The lot for the Hook and Ladder house was not pur- 
chased till several years afterwards. 

The engine company reorganized, with the »-UL,'iue 
thoroughly repaired, took possession of the new lioiise in 
September, 1844. 

The same engine is in the service of the town ii<>u. and 
like its predecessors has always been tlie pride of the 
company, and is not now surpassed by any engine of its 
kind and size in the vicinity of Boston. 

There was no regularly organized hook and ladder 
company until February, 1871, though the town owned 
a second-hand ajiparatus ])urchased of the city of Hox- 
bury. The name ^' (reorge II. Stone," was appropriated 
by this company in honor of a deceased comra<K'wlio had 
been a verv etiicient lireman, and was exceedingly popu- 



140 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

lar among his associates. He had also been a gallant 
soldier during the late war. He was a son of Elisha 
Stone, before mentioned, as for many years the principal 
sexton, undertaker, and constable of the town. The 
town purchased a modern hook and ladder truck at an 
expense of about twelve hundred dollars. The present 
elegant buildings of the Fire Department, said not to be 
exceeded by any in the State, were built in 1872, and the 
first steam fire-engine was purchased in 1873. The 
'•'' Good Intent Hose Company " was organized more 
recently, and does efficient duty with engine, steamer, or 
hydrant, as the case may be, when its services are needed. 
The buildings occupied by the steam fire-engine "- Thomas 
Parsons," and by the " Good Intent Hose Couipan}^ " are 
within a few feet of the spot occupied fifty-five years ago 
by the first engine-house in town. 

THE DANA PLACE. 

Next west of the Leeds place on the north side of the 
street, was formerly the Dana place. 

This included all that is now the town land about the 
Public Library except a strip a few feet in width, next 
Mr. Collins' residence, all that is in Mr. John Gibbs' 
lot, except a few feet on the west side, and on School 
Street the house lot of Mr. JNIatthews. There were 
two acres and a half in the place, a part of it the high- 
est and steepest part of the hill so often before men- 
tioned. 

On this place stood, until about twenty -two years ago, 
an ancient house dating back to the earlier part of the last 
century. It stood about twenty feet from the sidewalk, 
and the southeast corner of it was directly in the rear of 
the elm tree on the Library grounds, that being the corner 
of the front yard of the old house. 



THE DANA PLACK. 141 

It was two stories high, three rooms long, on tlui front, 
with two front doors. The kitchen Avas in tlie centre 
between the two front doors. An immense eliinmey, or 
'•' stack of chimneys," belonged to this kitchen, and the 
east room. The wide and deep fire-place would ac-com mo- 
date wood of cord length, and an enormous crane with 
hooks and trammels was suspended within it. Looking up 
from below one could see the open sky, and snow was 
sometimes in the fire-place, of a winter morning. 

Two brick ovens, one in the chimney back and the other 
at the side, furnished ample baking facilities, and old 
fashioned " dressers " alonsj the wall served instead of clos- 
ets. Here, too, were '' the whitewashed Avail and sag- 
ging beam," and the small, old-fashioned windows, half 
sash, through Avhich the light came dimly. In front of the 
house were peach trees, lilac bushes, and two very large 
locust trees, the great roots of which coiled about on the 
sidewalk like huge snakes. Behind the house was an 
open Avell with curb, Avindlass, and bucket. It was never 
knoAvn to fail in the dryest seasons, and the water was of 
the best quality. The two ba(;k doors of the house opened 
out upon a green orchard and garden, from which the 
hill rose steeply ; and the fence along the highest ridge, 
Avhich separated it from- Mr. Holden's hill-pasture Avhere 
the coasting ground used to be, was nearly concealed from 
view by a natural hedge of barberry bushes and wild 
vines. 

The same house stood Avest of it Avliich stands now 
AA^est of Mr. Gibbs' house. 

As long ago as 1740 the place Avas occupied by Natlian- 
iel Sliepard, who afterwards removed to Needliam. 

After this the house was owned by a man named Jack- 
son, Avho in the War of the Revolution Avas on tlie si(le of 
the royal cause, and made himself distasteful, as a Tory. 



142 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The house was taken as barracks for the colonial troops 
during the siege of Boston, at which the unpatriotic Mr. 
Jackson was so disgusted that he sold it as speedily as pos- 
sible to Mr. Daniel Dana, then living at Brighton and 
engaged in supplying the British troops in Boston and the 
harbor with meat. 

Mr. Dana came to live in the house we are describing, 
during the war, after the evacuation of Boston ; and from 
that time until 1848 the house was in possession of his 
family and known by his name. 

" Othello's occupation " being gone, when the British 
troops left, it became necessary to look about for new bus- 
iness ; and as Mr. Dana had but one hand, he began to 
keep a store on the corner of School Street, and kept it 
as long as he lived. There is one person still living in 
tcwn who can remember going to this store to buy slate- 
pencils as long ago as 1795. 

Mr. Dana had married for his second wife, a sister of 
the Rev. Cotton Brown, the second minister of Brookline. 

A son of Mr. Dana was taken prisoner during the Rev- 
olution, by the British, carried to England, escaped to 
France, took passage in a ship to return to America, and 
was lost at sea. There was no one left of the family after 
1803, but the only daughter. Miss Anna, who lived till 
1847, when she died at the age of ninety-two, and it is 
with her that our story is chiefly concerned. 

After the death of her father, Miss Dana kept a few 
small wares for sale for a while, using the east room of 
the house for a shop ; but she soon discontinued it, and re- 
serving the two easterly apartments for herself she let the 
rest of the house for her maintenance. In this house the 
writer of these sketches spent ten years of her childhood. 

Miss Anna Dana was one of the marked characters of 
Brookline during her long life, and her eccentricities were 



MISS ANNA DANA. 143 

SO frequently spoken of and dwelt upon, tliat hy niauy 
persons the finer qualities of her mind and licart were 
either unknown or overlooked. 

She had been an indulged and petted only daughter, 
and prided herself upon always having had her own way. 
Her proclivities were strongly in favor of everything 
English, and her admiration for the royal family was in- 
tense. She was an eye-witness of the battle of Bunker 
Hill, from a house-top in Boston, where she was staving, 
she being then twenty years of age, and more than half 
a Tory probably. 

She used to exhibit with great pride an ancient china 
bowl within which was inscribed, '' Success to the British 
Arms," and tell how they were obliged to keep it hidden 
during the war. All events, social or political, which met 
her disapproval, she attributed to two causes, Sunday- 
schools and a republican form of government. Not that 
Iier dislike to Sunday-schools arose from want of respect 
for religious teachings, but they were an innovation ; and 
she would not allow that anything modern was an improve- 
ment or an advantage over the ancient, except in tlu* con- 
struction of shoes and boots, which were then worn without 
raised heels. Had she lived to see in these days the revival 
of the ancient fashion Avhich she so detested, she would 
have thought modern people had lost their last andjonly 
grain of common sense. 

It was her pride and boast that she had no occasion for 
the services of a doctor, as she never had a day's illness 
sufficient to keep her in bed, or need to consult a phy- 
sician for seventy years. She rose and retired early, 
lived plainly, had plenty of fresh air, and ripe fruit: and 
though she never failed to warm her bed with a long- 
handled pan of wood coals every night in winter, she kept 
her attic window open summer and winter, for forty yeais. 



144 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

A carpenter who repaired the roof, had once told her 
that if she kept that window open she would live to be a 
hundred years old. Her room was thus kept supplied 
with fresh air, from the attic, as the stairway opened into 
it ; and whether the carpenter's advice was the cause of 
it or not, she possessed vigorous health and unimpaired 
faculties till she was nearly ninety years of age. 

At that time there was sickness in the house, and the 
rains of a chilly autumn made it necessary for the family 
occupying the house to have it closed. No persuasion or 
entreaty could induce the old lady to close the window or 
allow any one else to do so. No one had seen the inside 
of her chamber or the attic for half a century but herself, 
except a child, and she was determined that no one 
should. Those who knew her only by report imagined 
she had money or valuables stored away there, and that 
this was the cause of her reluctance to admit any one, for 
she said that she could not close the window herself, it 
had been so long open, which very likely was true, it 
being then swollen by the rain. 

The doctor, however, said the window must be closed 
at any risk of offense, and an energetic neighbor came to 
the rescue. Armed with hammer and nails she very de- 
cidedly informed the enraged old lady that she was about 
to do the audacious deed, and up stairs she went, and 
through the secret chamber, into the forbidden attic, shut 
the window and nailed it down, and for once the discom- 
fited maiden did not have her own way. 

The peculiarities which characterized Miss Anna Dana, 
made it very difficult for her to retain tenants in her 
house ; and until the last ten years of her life scarcely a 
family stayed two years on the premises. She was fre- 
quently alone during an entire winter, even after she be- 
came very aged, but her wonderful pride and independ- 



I 



MISS ANNA DANA. 145 

ence carried her tliroiigh what most women would have 
shrunk from as severe hardship. 

There was a standing feud between her and all boys. 
She seemed to hate them Avith all the energy of her na- 
ture. She "did not see where all the children cann^ 
from," she said ; " they were thicker than oak leaves," 
— and if she saw two boys passing by peaceably she 
went to the door and called to them sharply not to shake 
her fence, or throw stones at her house. Of course, boy- 
nature could not stand that, and the consequence was 
that her fence was shaken till it would scarcely stand 
alone, her windows were occasionally broken, her doors 
were tied up on the outside in nights, her bucket would 
be taken from the well, and her cats were persecuted. 
For, hard as her nature seemed toward children, she was 
very tender and loving towards her feline pets, of which 
she had at one time more than a dozen. 

Her seeming harshness was probably tlie result chiefly 
of her solitary and single-handed grapple with the world 
for so many years. In the latter part of her life, when 
there was a permanent tenant to protect her proju'rty, 
and stand between her and the boys, she softened into a 
much more pliable mood to all around her. Then^ was 
one boy, we should have said, now a Professor at Cam- 
bridge, whom she not only tolerated, but for whoivi she 
had a real affection, though not of the sort which mani- 
fests itself in caresses. Her test of a child's good man- 
ners Avas its ability to enter her room and leave it 
without laying a hand upon her highly polished, round, 
mahogany table. 

There are many persons who remember that east room, 
with its white floor, well-sanded, the old-fashioned desk 
with its piles of books, the long mirror, the round table 
in the centre before the fire-place, the brass andirons, and 



146 HISTORICAL sketchp:s of brookline. 

the two ancient chairs on either side of the fire, covered 
with tapestry work, imported from England, which had 
belonged to Governor Hutchinson of colonial times, but 
in each of which now sat a cat. The old lady herself 
always sat in a straight, high-backed chair beside the 
round table, on wdiicli she never laid anything but her 
spectacles or a newspaper. 

She could be very entertaining when she chose, for her 
memory was wonderful and her perceptions very clear ; 
and to talk with one who remembered events before the 
Revolutionary War, and could tell of what was done in 
the Colony of Massachusetts Bay under King George's 
governors, was no small privilege. 

About two years before her death, when she was 
ninety years of age, she grew sick ; but true to her old 
prejudice she would not allow a doctor to be sent for, nor 
resort to any remedies, nor even allow herself to be in a 
room where there was a fire. This course she persisted 
in til) she became helpless and others assumed the respon- 
sibility and controlled her, though with great sliow of re- 
sistance on her part. Her iron constitution was slow in 
breaking down, but after being confined to her bed 
about two years she died in Februar}^, 1847, aged ninety- 
two years and one month, the last of her race. 

There was not a human being of even the most distant 
kin surviving, to follow her to the grave or drop a tear to 
her memory, or even claim the poor trifles left behind. 

The forbidden attic, which had caused so much curious 
conjecture, contained only chests and boxes of old books 
and papers, an old sword and cutlass, and a few articles 
unsold in the stock of Mr. Dana's store, such as pointed- 
toed shoes, cards of queer buttons and buckles, some bon- 
nets, either of which would have made six of the present 
fashion, and other odds and ends, but nothing of any in- 
trinsic value. 



MISS ANNA DANA. 147 

After the death of !Miss Dana tin* place reverted to 
Peter C. Brooks of Boston, to whom it had hccn mort- 
gaged during her father's lifetime. By him it was sold 
to Timothy Leeds, son of James Leeds, and the house 
was purchased by Mr. Nathaniel Lyford, wli<> took it 
down. 

The ehn tree, by the west gate of the Library grounds, 
and which was in the front yard of the Dana house, was 
Miss Dana's especial pride and delight. It came up in 
the east corner of the yard about sixty years ago, and 
Miss Dana protected it the first summer from the scytlu' 
of the mower, by turning a tub over it. She watered it 
and tended it with care, and lived to sit for years in its 
shadow. For several years past it has made scarcely any 
growth, and many elms much younger now far exceed it 
in size. 



o 



148 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE HALL HOUSE. THE TOLMAN HOUSE. THE CKOFT 

HOUSES. "BLACK SUSY." MISS HANNAH ADAMS. DR. 

WILD. THE BLAKE PLACE. — THE ASPINWALL PLACE. 

THE next house west of the Dana place and now stand- 
ing on the corner of School and Washington streets, 
though built some time before the Revolution, has been 
modernized from time to time so that only its low walls 
indicate its age. It was occupied some years after the 
Revolutionary War by a Major Thompson of Revolution- 
ary service. It is said of the Major that he had a horse 
which had served in cavalry during the war, and when old 
and stiff, no longer in use as a Avorking animal, the sound 
of a bugle would so inspirit him that he would leap the 
fence and prance along the street wholly unmindful of his 
infirmities, going through the various evolutions with per- 
fect precision. It was during the Major's residence here 
that Mr. Dana kept his shop in the west part of the house. 

In the year 1796, the house was occupied by Zephion 
Thayer, who was the son of Captain Jedediah Thayer, a 
Revolutionary officer. 

Zephion Thayer died in this town in 1803. The dis- 
tinguished founder of Chauncy Hall School in Boston, 
and for twenty-five years its principal, was his son. Gid- 
eon F. Thayer Avas not born in Brookline, but he spent 
his childhood here, and so great was his love for Brook- 
line that he used to say he would have been born here if 
he could. 



THE TOLMAN PLACE. 149 

After tlie death of :\lr. Tliayer, a man iianuMl Leverctt, 
a wheelwright, occupied the house for a few years. 

About the year 1805 or 1806, Mr. Benjamin Davis, who 
tillthat time had owned all the land on the south side of 
the street (excepting the corner lot, which Iiad hccn sold 
years before), had a public sale of lots, and one nearly 
opposite the Dana place, where Mr. William Ileatii now 
lives, was purchased for the site of a blacksmith's shop. 
Mr. Edward Hall, either then or soon after, becanu; the 
owner of the house of whicli we are writing, and also of 
the shop where he carried on the blacksmith's business for 
many years. After his death the shop was let for the 
same purpose till about the year 1850, when it was taken 
down. 

Mr. Hall had a large family, but only three of liis chil- 
dren now survive, and of these not one is settled in Brook- 
line. 

The part of the house j)rojecting towards tlie west, was 
built in modern times, and covers what was formerly a 
pretty corner yard, where flowers and trees relieved the 
plainness of the house. In front was a row of tall fir 
trees. 

The opposite corner, formerly called the Tolman j)lace, 
was thickly covered with barberry bushes ; and at the 
time Mr. Jonas Tolman purchased, was offered ajt one 
hundred dollars for the lot, about an acre in extent. Mr. 
Tolman said he would never give one hundred dollars for 
it ; but he wanted the place very nmch, and hnally a com- 
promise was made, and he paid ninety-nine dollars. 

Next the blacksmith shop, on the same side of tlie 
street, was the house of Mr. Tolman, who was a shoe- 
maker. This house, like the Hall house, is still in good 
preservation, although built in the last century. Mr. 
Tolman had a one-story shop, painted red, behin.l his 



150 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

house, and during his lifetime was the principal shoe- 
maker of Brookline. 

After his death his son Charles carried on the business, 
and built the shop now on the corner of Cypress Street. 
The land belonging to this corner lot was much more ex- 
tensive formerly than at present, as two sales have been 
made from it much reducing its dimensions. 

The grade of the street has been materially changed 
between the two houses above mentioned and about the 
corner of Cypress Street. The Hall house formerly stood 
but one step higher than the sidewalk, while the Tolman 
house was reached by three steps in a wall at the edge of 
the front yard next the sidewalk. 

The front yard of this house was so filled with clumps 
of lilac and syringa as nearly to conceal the lower front of 
the house. In one of the west rooms a small select school 
was kept for man}^ years by JNIiss Rachael Cushing ; it 
enjoyed an excellent reputation, and many persons look 
back with pleasure to pleasant years of school-life spent 
there. The Misses Elizabeth and Mary Peabody (the 
latter afterwards became ]\Irs. Horace Mann), also 
taught at one time a select school in this house. 

Mrs. Tolman, the widow of Jonas Tohnan, lived to a 
great age, and her long life was nearly all one of active 
usefulness. She was one of those " mothers in Israel " who 
could find room in her heart and home for almost every- 
body, though her life had many and great sorrows. If a 
friendless teacher needed a boarding-place, or a wander- 
ing student a home, if a widow had a child whom she 
must board out, if a family by some domestic emergency 
needed apartments for a week or a month, Mrs. Tolman 
would find room somewhere in her house. If a female 
prayer meeting, or a maternal society, or sewing society, 
or anything else with a good object in view, wanted ac- 



THE NEW CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 151 

commodations, Mrs. Tolman's parlor was open. In li.r 
old age this good Avoman became wholly blind, but slic 
bore her privation with wonderful patience and cliccrful 
fortitude till released by death from darkness and pain. 

The opposite corner of School Street was a part of the 
Craft farm. It was separated from the streets by a low 
stone Avail and Avithin it were two or tliree apple trees. 
It sloped steeply doAvn to the brook at the bottom of the 
meadow, and Avas a good coasting place in Avinter for cliil- 
dren not venturesome enough to try the steep nortli side 
of Holden's Hill. 

Until the year 1844 there Avere but two cliurclies in 
Brookline, the Unitarian and Baptist. The famihes of 
Orthodox Congregationalists either Avorshippcd Avith tli«* 
Baptists or Avere united Avith the more distant societies of 
Brighton and Roxbury. 

In 1843 steps Avere taken to unite these A^arious inter- 
ests in one society, and secure a place to build a cliurch. 
The corner lot, then oAA^ned by the late Samuel Crafts, 
Avas secured for that purpose, and in 1844 the i)resent 
church edifice Avas built. It Avas dedicated August 20 
the same year, and a church of twenty-eight persons Avas 
formed. In May of the following year Rev. R. S. Storrs, 
Jr., was invited to become the pastor. He Avas installed 
the folloAving October. In a little more than a yeaP ^Ir. 
Storrs Avas called to Brooklyn, N. Y., where he has ever 
since labored as pastor of the Church of the Pilgi-inis. 
Since then the church has had five pastors: Rev. Joseph 
Haven, Rev. M. M. Smith, Rev. J. L. Diman, Rev. C. C. 
Carpenter, and Rev. C. M. Wines. 

The material prosperity of this society is sufliciently 
indicated by its enterprise in building the elegant stone 
edifice on the corner of Harvard and ^Marion streets, and 
the subsequent sale of the old building to the :\[et]i. ..lists 
in the spring of 1873. 



152 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



THE CROFT HOUSES. 

Nearly opposite the Methodist Church, on the corner of 
Washington and Cypress streets, stands now the ancient 
gambrel-roofed house which was occupied in 1740 by 
Captain Samuel Croft. How long it had then been built 
we have not ascertained, but afterwards it was the prop- 
erty of Dr. Aspinwall. The house has been occupied 
during the last hundred years by successive families, 
till they would form quite a host in the aggregate. In 
1805 or 1806, it took fire in the roof and narrowly es- 
caped destruction. 

Captain Croft was born in 1700. The land, it will be 
recollected by those who have read these historical papers 
thus far, on both sides of the street in this locality, was 
very early in the town's history a part of the Cotton 
estate. 

From the Cottons a part of it came into possession of 
the Sharps, and from them to the Crofts. 

The elder Captain Samuel Croft built in 1765 a large 
house on the north side of the street, in what is now the 
garden of T. P. Chandler, Esq., a rod or two west of the 
house. 

At the time of his death in 1771 it was owned by his 
son, Captain Samuel Croft, Jr., who married into the 
Sharp family. With this house was included as the 
Croft farm all that part of the Sharp farm from the 
corner of School Street to a point nearly up to the pres- 
ent residence of Thomas Griggs, Jr., and extending back 
to Stephen Sharps' part of the farm. 

Captain Croft's house was a large, square, two-story 
house, with a spacious front yard, well filled with trees 
and slirubbery. Behind the house was a deep ravine, and 
here was a spring of cold and excellent water, over- 
shadowed by two very large buttonwood trees. 



SUSY BACKUS. 153 

An old biirn stood opposite the liousr mi tln' site ol 
^Irs. Crafts' present residence, and there for some time 
was kept the liearse, until a perman(Mit place was pro- 
vided for it near the Unitarian Church. In mon* recent 
times a large barn stood east of the liouse on tlu* sjime 
side of the street. 

The old couple had no chihh-en, and tlifv adt.pt.-d :i 
member of the Davis family, a lovely girl, wliose name 
was Sarah. She had a fine voice, and her sinj^ing at tlie 
dedication of Brookline meeting-house* in lSn«; was tlie 
occasion of much commendation. 

This young lady died in 1808. It was during tlie fatal 
illness of Miss Sarali, that the hearse was broii<rlit, to be 
kept in the barn opposite ; and Mrs. Croft, almost siijmt- 
stitious in the matter of signs and omens, feared tliat her 
adopted daughter should know it. It might i)erhaps liave 
been unpleasantly suggestive, but tlu; young lady is said 
to have been " a lovely Christian," who had no fears or 
weak dread of a change which to such as she would 
brinoj only release and ioy. 

The energy of three or four generations of Sharps con- 
centrated in Mrs. or Madame Croft, as she was often 
called, and she carried sway with a higli liand. If tli«- 
Scriptural doctrine that '" it is good for a man that lie 
bear the yoke in his youth," is to be understood literally, 
there were and are those who derived great good from a 
residence in this household. At least they bore '* the 
yoke " there, according to unquestionable testimony. 

Perhaps the most distinctly remembered pei-sonage of 
this household, inasmuch as she lived the l«)ngest, and 
was a marked character, was an old colored woman 
named Susy Backus. . We say old because she calleil her- 
self fifty, for about forty years, and neither she nor any 

* Then the only (tiie in town. 
11 



154 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

one else knew her age ; but she was a young gh4 when 
taken mto the Croft house as servant, and here for board 
and clothes she rendered such service as money cannot 
buy, during the lifetime of her master and mistress. 

It has often been said by Brookline people that Susy 
was a slave, but this was not the case. Her father was a 
kidnapped African who served a blacksmith in Dorchester, 
and was called by his name, Backus. After the death of 
the blacksmith, the negro kept on with the business in 
the same shop, but assumed the more aristocratic and im 
posing title of " Mr. Cleveland." 

There Avas a poor Indian woman living in Brookline 
b}^ the name of ]\Iolly Hill, and '' Mr. Cleveland " re- 
lieved his solitude and perhaps added to his importance 
bv marrvins^ her. 

Susy was tlie child of this marriage, but somehow the 
name of Cleveland would not stick to her, and she was 
always known as Susy Backus. 

Susy was cook, chambermaid, milkmaid, hostler, and 
gardener for the Croft family. In fact her service was only 
limited by the fact tliat there are but twenty-four hours 
in the day, and that poor humanity must sleep sometime. 
She shoveled snow in winter and gathered vegetables in 
summer which her own hands had planted in spring. 

The Captain had a white horse and an old-fashioned, 
square, standing-top chaise, a most cumbrous '' one-hoss 
shay," which had done duty from time immemorial ; — 
also it came to pass that in later ^^ears he possessed a new 
and most respectable vehicle for those times. 

So when there had been a rain on Saturday, Susy was 
sent out on Sunday morning to run the lengtli of " the 
new lane," as Cypress Street was then called, to see if the 
mud was deep enough to imperil the respectability of the 
new chaise, and on her report, to the one vehicle or the 



SUSY r.ACKL's. 1.-;, 

other the white horse Avas lianiesscd to convey inastcr and 
mistress to '' Brookline meeting-house." 

Susy's seat was in " the negro pew," a liigh and nar- 
row phice above the singer's gallery in the old inen'ting- 
house where Dr. Pierce preached. She was tin; last 
person who occupied that place. 

Captain Croft died in 1814. In 1818 Dr. CharU-s Wild, 
then a young beginner in the practice of medicine, came 
to Brookline and took up his abode with Madame Croft. 
He became quite a favorite with the old lady, and at her 
death a few years later, she gave him two acres of land 
on the opposite side of the street. 

To Susy she left two hundred dollars ; and tlic nioncv 
was placed in the hands of Dr. Pierce as her guardian. 

Mr. Croft also left provision in his will '• for support- 
ing and maintaining in sickness and in healtli but not in 
idleness, except when past labor, my faithful servant 
Susanna Backus during her life." 

The old Croft house was let for several years, and then 
sold to Mr. John Kendrick, who lived in it a short time. 
He then left town, and when the estate was sohl to Mr. 
Chandler, the old house was moved to Thayer Place, 
where it still serves the purpose of a tenement house. 

The farm became the property of ]Mr. Samuel Cl^-afts, 
who was Mrs. Croft's nephew. From the Croft family 
Susy went to Mrs. Downer, formerly a Wyman, who was 
a daughter-in-law of the Dr. Downer in the Punch Bowl 
Village, and in this family she lived thirty-nine years, 
rendering devoted service. 

With the intense loyalty of her race she identihod licr- 
self with them and theirs, and no labor was too lianl or 
sacrifice too great for her to make for tliem. And her 
fidelity was appreciated. Thougli her voice was rough, 
and harsher tlian tliat of men in general, ;iiid Ikt pliysi- 



156 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BEOOKLINE. 

ognomy would have delighted the heart of Darwin, 
though for years and years she was bent almost double, 
so that it was a marvel how she could walk at all, she 
never looked repulsive or even unlovable to the children 
and grand-children of the household. 

Yet there was a picturesqueness about her as she 
walked to church on a Sunday morning in her white 
dress with a bright flower pinned upon the bosom, her 
handkerchief carefully folded outside her book and a large 
fan in her hand. She made regular visits in some of the 
most respectable old families of Brookline ; those at some 
little distance, like Deacon Clark's, for instance, she called 
\iQv foreign visits, and at certain houses she was always 
invited to tea -with the family. 

When she grew too old and infirm to w^alk to Dr. 
Pierce's church she went to the Baptist, and in both 
churches she was treated with marked courtesy and con- 
sideration. Indeed no one was ever disrespectful to Susy, 
except rude boys in the village, who sometimes called 
after her, or occasionally threw a stone, because she was 
old, and black, and crooked. 

But a beautiful soul dwelt in the uncomely body. 
Truth, and justice, and kindly charity were her charac- 
teristics ; and the singing of the earliest bird and the 
blooming of the first daffy in spring called out her in- 
nocent delight. She had been taught to read, and her 
well worn and much used Testament gave evidence of 
faithful perusal. 

At last the time came when the provision made for her 
in the Croft will was needed, and the money Avas paid 
semi-annually as long as she lived. 

For several years before her death Susy w^as entirely 
blind, cataracts having grown over both eyes. She still 
lived on, in the family of Mrs. Hancock (the daughter 



MISS HANNAH ADAMS. 157 

of Mrs. Downer), her efforts to help often ;i Innaninee, 
and the infirmities of her great age making licr a cease- 
less care ; but slie was not disposed of in hospital or poor- 
house, as was suggested by some advisers, for her love and 
devotion in her better days forbade the tliought of such 
a requital. So she felt her way about the familiar house, 
and w\as indulged in her pet whims, which were few, a 
handful of peppermints and a glass of rum once a day 
being her luxuries. 

After a four weeks' illness she died in 1803, probably 
eighty-four years of age, if not older, judging from her 
recollection of ancient events. To the very last her liear- 
ing was acute and her love of life strong. The old Croft 
tomb in Brookline cemetery, which had not been unclosed 
for nearly forty years, was opened to receive the body, 
worn out with a long life of toil for others, — and then 
closed up forever. 

Who shall doubt that her white soul was welcomed in 
the better land with a '' Well done, thou good and faithful 
servant." 

After the death of Mrs. Croft, the house was occupied 
by Mrs. Walley, formerly of Walnut Street, and with 
her, boarded in the latter part of her life, jNIiss Hannah 
Adams, a literary lady of much celebrity at tha^t-^time, 
who is well remembered by many persons now living, 
and whose memory deserves to be kept grecm. 

Miss Adams was a native of Medfield in this State, 
but spent most of her life in Boston and vicinity. In her 
childhood her father was in comfortable if not atHuent 
circumstances, but his failure and loss of ]n'operty and 
the early death of her mother, threw Miss Hannah upon 
her own resources. 

She was of a sensitive and delicate organization, and 
apparently little calculated by nature to gra])pl»' with the 



158 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

world, but like many others of her sex who do not care to 
battle for rights, and desire no right but that of filling 
some domestic niche peacefully and honorably, she was 
forced to an energy not natural to her and developed 
talents and resources of which her friends would have 
scarcely supposed her to be the possessor. 

In her childhood she had few advantages. She Avas 
too feeble in health to attend school, but she learned to 
read at home, and devoured volumes of poetry and novels, 
which she said in after years, made her keenly sensitive 
to the evils of life, but gave her no strength and vigor of 
mind to rise above them or overcome them. 

When it became necessar}^ for her to maintain her- 
self, or partly do so, she learned to weave bobbin lace. 
This was in the Revolution, and as soon as the war was 
over all demand for such a home-made fabric ceased. 
She tried straw-braiding, and other feminine employ- 
ments, but the profits were but slight, and wholly inade- 
quate for support. 

She taught a country school a few summers, but her 
health could not bear such a strain upon her vital pow- 
ers, and she relinquished this employment. In the mean 
time, however, some literary gentlemen who boarded at 
her father's, taught her at her own request Latin and 
Greek, which it was then considered the height of folly 
for a woman to spend her time in learning. 

About this time she became accidentally interested in 
the points of difference between different forms of relig- 
ious belief, and was led to read all the works treating of 
various denominations, which were available. The result 
of this was her writing a book called " View of Religion." 
Speaking of her reading, preparatory to writing this 
work, she says she soon became disgusted with the want 
of candor in the authors consulted, " in giving the most 



MISS HANNAH ADAMS. 150 



(lls- 



unfavorable descriptions of the denominations tlicy d 
liked, and applying to them the names of heretics, fanat- 
ics, bigots, enthusiasts, etc." It is one of the cheering 
signs of progress in society that tlie bitter hatred once ex- 
isting between rival sects is now modified to kindly toler- 
ance, which offers ground for hope that some futui-e day 
may find many of them uniting upon one common ground 
of faith and hope. 

Miss Adams' work went through several editions and 
brought her a moderate compensation. In the hope of 
larger pecuniary success she wrote after this, a " History of 
New England," there being at that time only two works of 
the kind extant, Mather's '' jNIagnalia " and Xeale's '' His- 
tory," neither of which came down to the American Revo- 
lution. It was a laborious task, involving much perusal 
of old manuscripts and other close investigation, and some 
journey ings. Before the work was completed her eyes 
failed, and for two years she was totally debarred from 
all nse of them in reading, Avriting, or any close applica- 
tion, and it appeared that all literar}' work must be aban- 
doned forever. She however so far recovered the use of 
them, under skillful medical treatment by Dr. Jeffries of 
Boston, that she could make a moderate use of them ami 
completed her work. 

As there was no history of our country at that time 
adapted to schools. Miss Adams intended to abridge her 
work and adapt it to school uses. Ihit in this she was 
anticipated by a clergyman who stepjied between her ami 
her prosperity and reaped the benefits. 

In the mean time her Histoi*y was well received and met 
with a larcce sale. But throuo-h some unfortunate eir- 
cumstances connected with the printing and publishing 
she received but little profit for all this labor. 

Her next work was a '' History of the Jews," a eare- 



160 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

fully prepared work which occupied several years, and 
afterwards she wrote a little volume entitled '' Letters 
on the Gospels." It was so unusual a thing in those days 
for an American woman to read the dead languages or 
attempt authorship that Miss Adams was looked upon by 
uneducated persons as a sort of human phenomenon, a 
curiosity to be gazed at and criticized. Her works were 
of solid worth, yet the compensation she received for them 
all was trifling, compared probably to what a modern 
novel-writer receives for a sensation story. 

She would have suffered in old age from want, but for 
the kindly thoughtfulness and generosity of a few gentle- 
men and ladies, who admired her talents and loved her 
for her personal worth. These settled an annuity upon 
her which made her declining years comfortable, and filled 
her warm heart with the liveliest gratitude. 

The Hon. Josiah Quincy, Stephen Higginson, and 
William Shaw, were the principal movers in this gener- 
ous deed. 

The Rev. Joseph Buckminster, his successor Rev. Mr. 
Thacher, and other eminent clergymen and authors Avere 
her personal friends, and her correspondents both in this 
country and abroad were people of eminence. The elder 
President Adams in writing to her once said : — 

" You and I are undoubtedly related by birth ; and although 
we were both born in obscurity, yet I presume neither of us 
have any occasion to regret that circumstance. If I could ever 
suppose that family pride was in any case excusable, I should 
think a descent from a line of virtuous, independent, New 
England farmers, for one hundred and sixty years, was a better 
foundation for it than a descent through royal or titled scoun- 
drels ever since the flood." 

There are various anecdotes extant respecting Miss 
Adams' little peculiarities, most of which rose from 



MISS ADAMS' PECULIARITIES. l«;i 

extreme sensitiveness and diffidence or nnd('rratiii<^r ,,f 
herself. Some however grew out of lier lack (.f knowl- 
edge of most common things, her attention having hci-n 
always so absorbed by books, and some from a singular 
absence of mind, or concentration on one subject to the 
exclusion of all others. 

Dr. Pierce used to relate an incident of her which was 
characteristic. She stayed all night in a friend's house and 
slept in a room where in the morning for the first tiuic 
she saw a knob instead of a latch upon the chamber door. 
Having made her toilet she tried to open the door, but 
the knob refused to pull out or push in, or lift up or go 
down. It never occurred to her to try to turn it, so she 
labored at the refractory thing, till finding it all in vain 
she sat down and waited till a maid-servant finally came 
and let her out. 

The anecdote of her forgetfulness about her l)aggage 
in travelling is perhaps too familiar to be repeated here, 
yet it may be new to young readers. A gentleman was 
very desirous of making her acquaintance, having heard 
that her conversation was highly interesting. Learning 
that she was to ride in a stage-coach on a certain day, he 
also took passage in the same. But in vain lie tried to 
draw her into conversation. She seemed oblivious to 
everything about her, but kept repeating to herself, 
'•'• Great trunk, little trunk, band-box, and bundle," a for- 
mula with which her friends had charged her memory, 
because she was so apt to be wholly unmindful of her 
possessions. 

A hack was called to take her home from some place 
in Boston, where she had been visiting for the day. She 
was at that time boarding with a ]Mr. Perkins in Leverett 
Street, but she told the driver to carry her to Mr. ]>ev- 
erett's in Perkins Street. The man drove about Boston 



162 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BKOOKLINE. 

till eleven o'clock in the evening tiying to find Perkins 
Street. He could scet no further information from his 
absent-minded passenger, and at last drove back to the 
stable to ask his employer what was the next thing to be 
done. The stable-keeper went out and looked into the 
carriage. " Oh, that 's Miss Hannah Adams," said he, 
'^ carry her to Mr. Perkins' in Leverett Street," and so 
at last the estray was deposited in safe quarters. 

The librarian at the Athenaium often found it impos- 
sible to get her away from the library when it was to be 
locked up at the dinner hour, and so was obliged to lock 
her in, and leave her there during his absence. On his 
return he found her so absorbed with her reading that 
she did not even know that he had been out. 

She was considered by some as eccentric, and by many 
as a sort of walking Greek dictionary, or an animated 
History of the Jews, yet she was as simple-hearted and 
affectionate as a child, and Avas dearly beloved by those 
who cultivated her acquaintance enough to overcome her 
natural diffidence. 

She wrote her last letter from one of the large, sunny 
front chambers in the old Croft house, in November, 1831. 
In it she says to her friend, " I need not inform you, and 
I am unable to express, how much pleasure it would give 
me to see you in Brookline. The lady with whom I 
board is all goodness." 

She perfectly delighted in the sunshine and the beau- 
tiful prospect from the pleasant apartment, so in contrast 
to the closeness and limited rano:e of a Boston house. 
" How can any one be tired of such a beautiful world ? " 
she said to a friend who called upon her, as she pointed 
out the beauties of the scenery. 

She died the same winter, at Mrs. Walley's, at the age 
of seventy-six. A portrait of her in her close white cap, 



DR. CHARLES WILD. 108 

micl lawn hiiiidkercliief, not unlike a Quaker's g-arb, can 
be seen in the Boston Athenaeum. 

Miss Adams was one of the first persons l)uri(Ml in 
Mount Aubnrn Cemetery. Her memoir, hv(r\\n by licr- 
self, but finished after her death by a friend, is in our 
Pubhc Library. 

Opposite the residence of Mr. Chandler, on tlu^ site of 
the barn before mentioned as belonfrine: to the Croft 
place, Mr. Samuel Crafts built the house, which is still 
standing, somewhat more than thirty years ago. 

Mr. Crafts was a native of Brookline, and lived in tlic 
southwest part of the town in his early years, then re- 
sided several years in the house formerly owned and 
occupied by his uncle, Stephen Sharp, and finally built 
the one above alluded to, in which he resided till his 
death in 1856. Mr. Crafts was very active in establishing 
the Congregational Society in this town, and was an in- 
fluential man in the church. 

The next place west was the house-lot of two acres 
which was given to Dr. Charles Wild. Dr. Wild was so 
thoroughly identified Avitli Brookline for over forty years 
that his name is a household word. It is hardly possible 
to prepare a satisfactory sketch of a man whose biogra])hy 
should be fully written by some able pen, or to desc 
him as he was known among his patients so that tht 
who never saAV him can have any adequate idea of him. 

Dr. Wild Avas born in Boston in January, ITIK"). lb' 
Avas a graduate of Harvard College of the class of 1S14. 
Dr. AValker, late President of Harvard, Judge (Pliny) 
Merrick, W. H. Prescott, the historian, and other eminent 
men Avere his classmates. 

In the year 1818, Avhen Dr. Charles Wild came to 
Brookline, Dr. AspiuAvall, the skillful and beloved phy- 
sician of the town and vicinity for many years, Avas in 



U)e 

)se 



164 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

the decline of life, and his son the young doctor had just 
been removed by death. A good field for practice was 
open, and the Doctor began business under favorable cir- 
cumstances, and soon made for himself a name and repu- 
tation. He built his house, married young, and reared 
a large family of children. 

The Doctor was of course in those days a practitioner 
of the old school. People thought they had not their 
money's worth of service from a doctor unless they swal- 
lowed physic in fearful doses, and were blistered and bled 
within a small fraction of their lives, and Dr. Wild was 
^' equal to the occasion." 

Those who can remember the Doctor in his prime, can 
well recall his tall, well-formed figure, his firm tread, his 
deep voice which seemed to come from cavernous depths, 
and the eyes which seemed to look from behind his spec- 
tacles into and through one. 

If there was occasion to send for him, unless the case 
was represented as a matter of life and death, the chances 
were even that he might not appear till the patient either 
died or recovered, unless the call were repeated two or 
three times. Not that the Doctor was intentionally heed- 
less or neglectful of his patients when he found them 
very severely sick, but the difiiculty was to find him, and 
get the impression made that he was actually needed. 
In serious cases he was devotedly attentive, and so great, 
was the public confidence in him that in ordinary illnesses 
people would wait his tardy attention rather than send 
for another physician. It was quite as likely to be a 
successful hunt for him, to go through the streets and 
look for '' old Sal," his sorrel mare, and the familiar old 
buggy before some house door, as to go to his house for 
him, for he had a way of going from one patient to 
another for a day and a night or more, without going 



DR. CHARLKS WILD. 105 

home, getting a lunch at one house and a naj) in anotluT, 
particuhirly if there was much sickness. 

He had a breezy way of entering a house, stamping 
off the snow or dust with noise enough for three men, 
throwing off his overcoat, untying a huge muffler tliat he 
wore about his neck, and letting down liis black leather 
pouch with emphasis. There was an indescribable noise 
he made sometimes with that deep gruff voice of his 
which cannot be represented in type. It must have been 
heard to be understood, and the first salutation was quite 
likely to be (if the patient were an acquaintance), 
'' Well ! well I well I what kind of a kick-up have you 
got now ? " If the patient was an infant it might be 
'' How 's Nicodemus to-day ? " or, '' Well ! is Ichabod's 
tooth ready for the lance this morning ? " His fancy for 
nicknames was proverbial. He usually called a friend's 
child whose name was Florence, either " Rome," "' Milan," 
or some other Italian city. A charge upon his books of 
a visit to '' Don Sebastian," rather nonplussed the mem- 
ber of his family who was to make out the bills. ( )n 
inquiry it proved his nickname for a member of the 
Cabot family. 

And who that ever saw the solemn deliberation with 
which he stirred thick yellow powders into molasses in a 
table spoon, silently, with an ominous glance occasiomlly 
at the hapless victim who lay waiting for the order to 
open his mouth, will think of them without a recoil ? 
When one thinks, in the light of modern science, of the 
fearful potions of calomel, rhubarb, and jalap, })icra, 
ipecac, and antimony, and countless other abominations, 
swallowed by hopeless humanity in formin' times, the 
chief wonder is that any lived to tell the talc. 

When the business was transacted, and there was no 
special anxiety, then the Doctor settled himself to be 



1G6 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKIJNK. 

sociable, and there he stayed often for two or three hours 
at a time, telling the drollest stories, with comical gri- 
maces and hectoring the children, who never could keep 
away from him though they knew he would surely tor- 
ment them. But if the case was serious or doubtful, the 
Doctor was grave and silent, and sat catching flies with 
the rapidity and precision of a terrier, if there were any 
to catch, — or walked back and forth cutting tobacco and 
chewing it Avith an avidity that was marvelous. 

In the great and solemn crises of birth and death, in 
the great domestic trials through which all families must 
pass somewhere between the cradle and the grave, the 
Doctor was the calm counsellor and the sympathizing 
friend. His quaint brusque speeches and ways were sel- 
dom an offense to any one, and his hearty cheerfulness 
was better than medicine to dispel the blues. He en- 
joyed the ludicrous side of life to the full, and when anj^- 
thing occurred that he considered '' too good to lose," he 
would give everybody the benefit of a hearty laugh over 
it. 

An incident that suited the Doctor exactly, occurred in 
a farmer's family. The farmer was sick from a strain or 
something that required an external application, and the 
Doctor ordered a large slice of brown bread to be soaked 
in brandy and laid upon his stomach. The next day 
when the Doctor called, the wife met him at the head of 
the stairs. '^ Doctor," said she, " that brown bread hasn't 
done any good. I couldn't make him eat more than half 
of it, and he 's dreadful sick." " Eat it I good gracious, 
woman! Eat it?" growled the astonished Doctor,''! 
didn't tell you he was to eat it ! It was to go on out- 
side." 

'' Will it kill him. Doctor ? " 

" Kill him ! No, he'll live through it ! " and he did, and 
soon got well. 



DR. wild's HOMfEol'ATIIV. 1(]7 

The Doctor's salutations at his departure were uniijue, 
as well as those which marked his entrance to a sick room, 
" Now if you can't sleep well and don't know what to do 
you can amuse yourself with taking an emetic." 

There was no end to the odd conceits, the quizzical 
expressions, the grotesfpie turns of thought which were 
constantly occurring to him. And he was wonderfully 
kindhearted withal, and as prom})t about doing a favor, 
as if it was a matter of course, and never afterward ap- 
peared to remember it. 

He was consulted upon all sorts of matters, from choos- 
ing a matrimonial companion to building a i)orch or a 
hen-coop, and his opinion was authority, for his shrewd 
good sense was seldom at fault. 

In the year 1889 the attention of Dr. Wild was turned 
to homoeopathy, which was then new in this part of the 
country. He was convinced that there w^as something 
more than mere theory in the matter, and by trying it 
in a chronic case where other means had failed, the happy 
result confirmed his previous opinion. 

In the language of another, '* From this time he pur- 
sued the investigation and trial of the system until he 
became a firm believer in its truth and efficiency. He 
was a man of quick observation, of an investigating mind, 
and disliked to leave a subject until he had mastered it. 
He had great intellectual candor, looking at a new subject, 
thought, or creed with interest, not casting it aside as 
humbug or charlatanism till he was convinced from inves- 
tigation that it was such." 

While the Doctor was in what might be called a transi- 
tion state, between the old practice and the new, there 
Avas a trying time both for him and his patients, for he had 
new difficulties and old prejudices to encounter, but he car- 
ried along witli him to a wonderful degree the confidem-e 
of his patrons and met with marked success in his practice. 



168 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLIKE. 

The second meeting held in New England by physi- 
cians who were pioneers in the new practice was held 
at Dr. Wild's house February 16, 1841, and the Massa- 
chusetts Homoeopathic Fraternity was organized, and a 
constitution and bj^-laws adopted. The present char- 
tered society is a continuation of this original institution. 

He carried his books with him from house to house and 
studied by the bedside of the patient, comparing and ob- 
serving, and referring to the best authorities then extant 
for the wisest methods of procedure. 

Miss Amanda M. Corey, afterwards the wife of Mr. 
James Edmond, was then a school girl, very bright and 
original, but often under the Doctor's care, and was a great 
favorite of his. Soon after he began practicing the new 
treatment she wrote the following lines, which greatly 
amused and delighted the Doctor. 

ILLI, GUI CARMINA APPLICENT. * 

A son of Esciilapius comes, ^ 

I hear his chariot wheels ; 
The very sound my soul benumbs, 

A shiver o'er me steals. 
Ye muses, aid me if you can. 

Ye sundry settled bills, 
In self-defense to sing the man 

Of gallipots and pills ! 

Ye classic bards of olden days, 

My vacant soul inspire ; 
Ye smiling ghosts of comic lays, 

Awake my sleeping lyre. 
Desert your graves in winding-sheets, 

Diseases fierce and grim; 
Ye aches and pains your dark retreats 

Forsake and sing of him. 

Ye memories of departed pills, 

Of bitter poAvders too, 
Support my shrinking soul that fills 

With horror at the view. 

* " Him to whom the song applies." 



I'OKM ON DH. WILD. 

Ye spirits all of tuneful rliyine, 

Where'er ye chance to he, 
Come mount Parnassus' heights sublinu' 

And sweep the lyre for me. 

Come, sinp tl;e Ilotmfopntliic kn'njht ; 

Describe him, as he comes 
To kindly give the aching wight 

A dose of suf/(ir-j>luins.' 
Who banishes disease and woe, 

And contradicts the song, 
"Man wants but little here l)elow, 

Nor wants that little long." 

Come, sing capacious pockets crammed 

With roots the fields supply, 
That in the sounding mortar jammed, 

Diseases stern defy. 
The names that on his vials wrote. 

In goodly rows appear, 
That choke the rude, contracted throat, 

And stun the vulgar ear. 

But most of all, his awful ijjcs, 

That pierce my very soul ; 
That scan my feelings as they rise, 

And penetrate the whole 
For eyes and ^' specs ^^ together, strike 

The very seat of lite; 
And scare my timid spirit, like 

A keen-edged carving-knife I 

But, lo I his steed is at the gate, 

And he is at the door; 
Be steady now, my whirling pate, 

Ye shaking nerves give o'er. 
He doflfs the frightful rul)ber coat, 

That darky shrouds his form, 
And, fastened tight beneath his throat, 

Defies and scares the storm. 



IGl) 



o 



He leaves his cap and gloves below, 

Arise my longest hairs I 
For now, with solemn step and slow, 

I hear him on the stairs. 
Two ponderous volumes in his hands, 

This second Galen brings. 
And by the couch of sickness stands, 

A man of mighty things. 
12 



170 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

And now he reads those mystic books, 

Enlighteners of disease, 
And grasps his patient's wrist, and looks 

Profound as Socrates. 
Prescribes a dose, then lifts his eyes 

And fastens them on me; 
My blood runs cold, my spirit dies, j 

So terrible is he ! 

Ye pitying Muses, one and all. 

That e'er on mortals smiled, 
O teach me how to break the thrall, 

The spell of . 

And if the task of serving you 

Apollo e'er assigns, 
It shall be hers, life's journey through, 

Who perpetrates these lines. 

Dr. Wild was a public-spirited man, interested in what- 
ever promoted the welfare of the community. For many 
years he was an attendant upon the ministry of Dr. Pierce, 
at the Unitarian Church, and was a member of the choir 
connected with it. Before the days of the organ the Doc- 
tor played the flute. 

As his health began to fail with advancing years, he 
relinquished by degrees his practice, to his son. Dr. Ed- 
ward A. Wild. 

He had now more leisure for reading and thought, and 
became interested in the theology of the New Jerusalem 
Church. He considered it with candor and patient inves- 
tigation, and Avas satisfied that here at last he had found 
the two great books of nature and revelation in harmoni- 
ous agreement instead of seeming antagonism. 

He heartily embraced the doctrines of the Church and 
was baptized in the High Street Church in Brookline. 
He spent some months in a curative institution in Boston 
without any manifest improvement to his health, and re- 
turned to Providence whither his wife had already gone, 
and in that city he died on the 3d of May, 1864, aged 
seventy-one years. 



BLAKE AND ASPINWALL PLACES. 171 

His son, Dr. Edward A. Wild, had gained an extensive 
practice in his father's stead, in this town, previous to the 
War of the Rebellion. He had spent some time abroad 
during the great war between Russia and the allied 
armies, and gained much knowledge in the hosjiitals of 
the Crimea. At home he was a public-spirited citizen as 
well as a popular and successful physician. 

AVhen the Rebellion began he gave up his profession to 
enter the service of his country, and gathered an<l drilled 
in this town, Company A, of the First Massachusetts regi- 
ment. 

From the office of Captain which he held at the open- 
ing of the war, he rose, as is well known, to the rank of 
Brigadier-general. Of what he did and what he suffered 
for his country his empty sleeve is but a partial testimo- 
nial. He is too well known to need any tribute from our 
pen, and we share the regrets of a large community that 
not one of this respected family remain in the town when* 
the two doctors were so long useful, and where they were 
and are still held in grateful and affectionate remembrance. 

Captain Walter Wild, the Doctor's youngest son, also 
was in the service of the United States during the late 
war. 

■o 

THE BLAICE AND ASPINWALL PLACES. 

The whole hill extending westward from the first ris- 
ing ground west of Cypress Street to Beacon Street, and 
from Washington Street on the north to the railroad in 
the valley on the south, is one of the most beautiful hills 
in our town to look at or to look from. Though of less 
height than Corey's Hill, it commands a wide and varied 
prospect which never tires the eye, and its undulating 
surface is very beautiful in detail. 

The part of it now comprising Mr. Blake's estate, ex 



172 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

cept the orchard on the southeast, was purchased off the 
Croft farm about fifty years ago, by Mr. Lewis Tappan, 
who built the stone house which is still standing, and oc- 
cupied it a few years. The place extended a little fur- 
ther west than at present, and included a strip of land 
now on the Aspinwall place. 

After the removal of Mr. Tappan to New York the 
house was occupied by Mr. Nathaniel R. Cobb, and sub- 
sequently by Henry Robinson, an English gentleman, 
who resided there a number of years. All its owners 
have been orentlemen of ^wealth and taste, but no one has 
brought the place to such elegance and perfection as its 
present OAvner. 

About forty acres of land, including the higher part of 
the hill and the woods that crown it, were purchased by Dr. 
Aspinwall in 1788 of Mr. Benjamin White. The Doc- 
tor's fine taste is evinced in the selection of the site for 
his house, commanding as it does an unbroken view of 
Boston and Charles River, with all the towns along the 
north side of the river for miles, while the most beautiful 
part of Brookline lies directly in the foreground. When 
the house was built in 1803, there were not more than 
six houses in view in Brookline from the front of it. 

There was an old house standing on the lower slope of 
the lawn, near the street, whose owner, a Mr. Blanchard, 
was the first sexton of '' Brookline meeting-house," but 
this was removed about the beginning of the present cen- 
tury. 

The late Augustus Aspinwall, a son of the Doctor, 
continued to occupy and improve the place after the 
death of his venerable father ; a sister of his remaining 
unmarried being his housekeeper, and the companion of 
years of loneliness which followed the early death of his 
much-loved wife. Mr. Aspinwall made his garden and 



MR. ASPINWALL's ROSES. 173 

greenhouse liis recreation after business liours, ami tliey 
became famous for the most exquisite roses that money 
and choice cultivation could procure. 

His love for them was almost a passion, and it seemed 
as if the affection which might otherwise have been lav- 
ished upon the dearest of kindred, found occupation and 
solace among his beloved roses. There were lumdreds of 
varieties, and they bloomed successively through all the 
seasons, and their admiring owner shared them with such 
of his friends as were appreciative of their rare beauty. 
Choice vines and fruit trees were also an attr.icti(jn of 
this fine garden and farm. 

On this place, as on the adjoining one of ]\Ir. Blake, the 
fine native forest trees have been aUowed to grow and 
expand, and choice evergreens, on the Hlake place partic- 
ularly, planted in groups and trimmed into symmetry, 
contrast exquisitely in autumn Avitli the brilliant hues of 
the abundant maples. 

The road-side trees along both these places are a per- 
petual blessing, and make Washington Street for a half 
mile like a woodland avenue. 

We have heard strangers remark upon the richness 
and beauty of the grass in many parts of Brookline, com- 
paring it with Englisli lawns so famous for their beauty. 
It has often been said that a New Englander mus$ go 
south and remain for a time before he can appreciate the 
luxuriance and greenness of the grass of his native soil ; 
but we think the dullest eye could not look upon the 
closely trimmed lawns, without a sense of their beauty, 
or the waving wealth of cultivated grass upon many of 
the finely kept places in our town, without a glow of ap- 
preciation which will reveal to him that though there may 
be ^' a great crop of hay," there is something more and 
finer than that. 



174 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BEOOKLINE. 

On the opposite side of the street, a long stretch of 
land, once the Cottons', then the Sharps', tlien the Crofts', 
and afterwards the Crafts', has been divided and subdi- 
vided among many owners, and separated by beautiful 
avenues which it is a matter of public regret were laid 
out so narrow that their widening now begun, involves 
the destruction of the beautiful trees which have so long 
been their chief charm and attraction. 

From Park Street west on this side of Washington 
Street the changes have been so slight during many 
years, that the returning native of the town who might 
wander perplexed and bewildered in the lower part of 
the town like an awakened Rip Van Winkle, would here 
find himself at home again, and the finely cultivated 
farm of the Griggs family and the familiar sight of the 
tannery beyond, assure him that he was still in Brookline 
and following the ^vindings of the Brighton road. 



ROBINSON AND WITHINGTON FAMILIES. 175 



CHAPTER X. 

THE ROBINSON, WITHINGTON, AND COREY PLACES. CYPRESS 

STREET. BOYLSTON STREET. GIDEON THAYER. DR. 

SIIURTLEFF. BRADLEY's HILL. 

A MONG the earliest annals of tlie town of Dorchester 
-^^ appear the names of Robinson and Withington, and 
from 1636 downwards they constantly reappear as '' El- 
ders " in the church, or selectmen of the town. In 1600 
we find '' Captain John Withington " leading the Dor- 
chester soldiers on the ^' Canada Expedition ; " and in 
the Revolutionary War, the young men of both families 
seem to have been numerous and active in the service of 
the country. 

During Shays' Rebellion in 1787, we find " Captain 
James Robinson " of Dorchester, in command of a com- 
pany of men from that place who were employed to assist 
in putting down the insurrection. In this company ap- 
pear the names of John and David Withington, corporals. 
In an old diary kept by Colonel Samuel Pierce of Dor- 
chester, appears a curious incident under date of Decem- 
ber 30, 1773. On December loth he notes the destruc- 
tion of the tea in Boston harbor. It seems that some 
chests of it not wholly broken up or emptied, were carried 
out by the tide, and about a half chest had drifted ashore 
at "the Point," doubtless now South Boston or City Point. 
An old gentleman of the Withington family had fished it 
out and carried it home, not because of any Tory lean- 
ings, but probably because he liked a good cup of tea and 



176 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

could not bear to see it wasted. Colonel Pierce's diary 
reads, — 

'^December 15. There was the destruction of the Tee ; they 
supposed there to be about 340 chests destroyed, all thrown into 
the clock in one nite." 

" December 30. There was a number of men came from Bos- 
ton in disguise, about 40 ; they came to Mr. Eben Withing- 
ton's house down in town, and demanded his Tee from him which 
he had taken up, and carried it off and burnt it at Boston." 

It was publicly burnt on the Common. 

Henry Witliington from whom the Brookline families 
descended was a '' Ruling Elder " twenty-nine years. 

Deacon John Robinson, afterwards of this town, was 
born in Dorchester in 1763. He was therefore too young 
for military service in the Revolution, but being often 
sent by his father with milk to the British troops, then 
occupying " the Castle," he was justly indignant at their 
boastful threats of the ability of the King's troops to over- 
run the country and conquer the rebel colonies, and desired 
very much to enter the service as a fifer, but to this his 
father would not consent, on account of his tender years. 
His memory of the fortifying of Dorchester Heights, the 
evacuation of Boston, and all the prominent events of the 
times was very distinct. 

About the year 1790 the two young men, now only re- 
membered as venerable, white-haired fathers of the town, 
John Robinson and Enos Witliington, who had been 
brought up to the trade of tanners, sought a suitable spot 
to locate themselves and commence business. Their at- 
tention was drawn to Brookline at that time, chiefly be- 
cause of its minister, the Rev. Joseph Jackson, whom they 
and others of the Dorchester people occasionally walked 
all the long distance from that town to this on Sundays 
to hear, he being "a mighty man " in the pulpit in those 



BUILDING THK FIRST TANNKRV. 177 

days. He did not confine the force of liis logic, or tlie 
power of his eloquence to the sins of ancient Jews or 
PhiHstines, or labor vigorously to overthrow a man of 
straw of his own construction, but rather directed his 
efforts toward the sins, or what he considered sins of his 
own people. Deacon Robinson used to mention a sermon 
of ^Ir. Jackson's, which he heard one Sunday morning 
when he had walked from Dorchester, in which there was 
something of what might be called personal preacliing. 
Some of the good man's parishioners had been rather gay 
and frisky, and kept late hours, which called down upon 
them the thunders of the pulpit, in which the j)astor 
seemed to be making vigorous exertions to pound the 
Bible to pieces. 

Whether this particular sermon decided tlu^ y<^nng nu»n 
to come to Brookline, does not appear, but they came in 
1790, and purchased land of the last Robert Sharp. 

All the land at that time from the Croft house to the 
one lately owned by Mr. Bartlett, on the north side of 
the street, Avas then a dark and tangled swamjK full of 
rocks, and thick w^ith alder bushes all along the roadside. 
The site for the tannery was selected (where the work is 
still continued by Samuel A. Robinson), and the work of 
clearing up and preparing to build was soon in successful 
progress, much to the satisfaction of market-meuJand 
others who had to frequent this lonely road at unseason- 
able hours. 

My. Robinson built his house in 1701, married Mr. 
Withington's sister, and settled to his business. Mr. 
Withington built his house ^vithin three years after, and 
married Patience Leeds of Dorchester, a sister of tlie 
James Leeds of whom we gave an account previously. 
Both houses were alike originally, and the land about them, 
by the industry of these energetic young men, was re- 



178 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

claimed from its wildness, and orchards and mowing lands 
took the places of rocky pastures and alder thickets. 

During the earlier years of Mr. Withington's married 
life, having more house room than was necessary, he let a 
part of his house in summer to Boston families, who then 
found fewer places of summer resort than at present. 
Among these families were Governor Gore's, the Hub- 
bards, Clevelands, and other prominent people of Boston, 
who enjoyed the fine situation and the grand prospect 
from the top of the hill. 

During the second war with England, when Boston 
was threatened by British vessels, every available spot of 
unoccupied room in this house was at one time packed 
full of duck, which was removed thither by some mer- 
chants who were apprehensive of losing it in case of an 
invasion . 

Mr. Withington did not continue a tanner all his life, 
but devoted the principal part of his life to farming. He 
died when about seventy-four years of age. The late 
Deacon Otis Withington of Harvard Church, and our 
present Town Treasurer,* are his sons. 

Mr. Robinson was also an active man in the First 
Church, of which he and his wife early became members. 
In this church he was a deacon fifty-seven years, and won 
the reputation of being a man of untiring benevolence. 

Dr. Pierce, who succeeded Mr. Jackson in 1796, speaks 
more than once after a fifty years' pastorate, of Deacon 
Robinson and his wife, and Mr. Withington and his wife, 
as living with the marriage tie unbroken, longer than any 
other couples whom he found residing in the town when 
he came here. 

When Mr. Robinson had held the office of deacon fifty- 
seven years, and the infirmities of age had already unfitted 
1 Moses Withington, Esq. 



DEACON JOHN ROBINSON. 179 

him for further active duties, lie was presented witli a 
heavy and beautiful silver goblet, with tlie f(>ll(nvin<,' in- 
scription : — 

To Deacon John K(hunsox, 

Frovi the First Church in Brookliiif. 

recalling his long and faithful services and guatkfil for his 

consistent example of love toward god and man. rresented 

May Utii, 1854. 

THE 57th anniversary of his appointment TO OFFICE. 

Deacon Robinson was confiued to his bed durin<jj the 
last two years of his life, and it has been said that " it 
was truly delightful to see him lying so liumble and 
submissive, patiently awaiting his departure. Tliosc in 
attendance upon him, often heard him quoting from Scrip- 
ture and verse such passages as best suited his feelings, 
and which were of comfort and delight." Ills last utter- 
ance upon earth was the Doxology, — 

" To God the Father, God the Son, 
And God the Spirit, Three in One, 
Be honor, praise, and fflory j^iven. 
By all on earth, and all in heaven." 

He died January 13, 1855, aged ninety-one years and 
six months. 

An appreciative memorial of him was pubHshed in one 
of the religious papers soon after his deatli. The widow 
and the fatherless often had occasion to bless his menu>ry 
as one of the Lord's faithful stewards, and none who 
knew him will fail to recall to memory, his venerable 
figure and countenance, with feelings of the highest re- 
spect and esteem. 

Deacon Robinson was overseer of the poor and a 
selectman for thirty years. He also was a represent- 
ative in the State Legislature twelve years. Tiie house 
which he built has since his death been mod«'rni/.«Ml and 
greatly improved by his son, so that to appearance it has 



180 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOK LINE. 

almost lost its identity. The Withington house, which has 
not been occupied by any of the family for many years, 
remains as built by its original owner. The large gas- 
ometer lately built almost in front of it alters the appear- 
ance of the neighborhood, which had remained so many 
years unchanged. The first tannery buildings were de- 
stroyed by fire several years ago, and rebuilt in an im- 
proved manner. The second tannery with the house 
near it were built by Deacon Robinson for his son James, 
who has since removed from Brookline. 

An incident has recently been mentioned to us which 
indicates Dr. Pierce's estimate of Deacon Robinson. A 
remark was made in his hearing respecting an ideal char- 
acter of which one of the family was reading, and it w^as 
thought to be overdrawn, and to represent impossible 
goodness. " Now, where in real life," it was asked, " will 
you find such a character as that of Lord Orville ? " when 
Dr. Pierce promptly replied that he " did not believe he 
was any better- man than Deacon Robinson.'''' 

The anecdote is as good to illustrate Dr. Pierce's beau- 
tiful faith and charity, as to indicate the esteem in which 
the Deacon was held. Dr. Pierce was several years 
younger than Deacon Robinson, and much more vigorous, 
and he used to say that he had selected his text for the 
Deacon's funeral sermon in case he should outlive him, 
'' Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the 
end of that man is peace." But when the time came for 
Deacon Robinson's funeral sermon to be preached, the 
grass had long been green above the grave of his old 
friend and pastor. 

THE COREY PLACES. 

The next house of ancient standing on Washington 
Street, Avas built and occupied by Major Edward Whyte, 



CAPTAIN CORKY. 181 

who died in 1TG9, aged seventy-six. In this house was 
born his son OUver, who was the postmaster and t(»\vn 
clerk for many years, and whose house on Walnut Street 
has recently been taken down by his lieirs. 

The house of Major Whyte, for a long tiiiu' th<' prop- 
erty of the Coreys, is the one now ownctl and occupied 
until recently by the family of the late James liartlett. 

On the site of the stone house, nearly opposite the one 
above mentioned, there stood formerly a two-story jjouse, 
unpainted and black with age. This was the house of 
Isaac Winchester, son of Captain John Winchester, one 
of the old proprietors on Harvard Street. Isaa(.' Win- 
chester died in 1771. 

There seems to be very little known respecting this 
branch of the Winchester family ; but there is an old bill 
of Dr. AspinwalTs, against the town in the year 17S(), 
for ^'attendance upon Exeter, a Negro Servant, belonging 
to the estate of Isaac Winchester, deceased." Poor 
Exeter probably had a hard time of it, as the Doctor 
chai-ged for one hundred and sixty-six visits, besides '' rum 
and dressings." 

Shortly after Isaac Winchester died, the house and a 
tract of land lying upon that side of the street, and land 
on the Whyte place on the opposite side, were purchased 
by Captain Timothy Corey who had married Elizabeth 
Gricfirs of Brookline. He was the son of Isaac Corev of 
Weston. Captain Corey Avas in active service in the 
Revolutionary AVar, and was one of three wlio were all 
that were left of an entire company who died of wounds, 
sickness, and imprisonment. He and his two comrades 
returned, footsore, ragged, and forlorn, from their terrible 
exposure and hardships. At the time of the battle of 
Lexington, his young wife with her two little children 
left the house, as did many other women (-f Urooklin.'. 



182 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

and carrying some blankets and provisions with them, 
sought shelter in the woods, till the fright and danger, 
from the enemy passing through the town, were over. 

Captain Corey is remembered as an old gentleman who 
dressed in the costume of the last century, as long as he 
lived, wearing a " three-cornered cocked hat." An anec- 
dote is told of his wife, which indicates her opinion of 
her husband's appearance. Some one, a stranger, called 
at his house one day when he was away from home, de- 
siring to see him. Mrs. Corey told him to go down the 
road and if he met " a fine-looking, portly man on horse- 
back, he might know it was her husband. '"^ Captain 
Corey joined the Freemasons in his old age, because his 
son Elijah did so ; and he is said to have given as a reason 
for doing this, that " no son of his should know more 
than he did." Captain Corey died in 1811, aged sixty- 
nine. He was buried from the First Church with Ma- 
sonic honors. His widow lived to be ninety-two years of 
age, and retained her faculties to the last. 

In this ancient house there was often preaching by 
various ministers, who were called '' New Lights." An 
old colored Baptist preacher, known as "Black Paul,'' 
and quite a local celebrity fifty years ago, frequently 
preached there. '' Father Grafton" also preached there 
many times. All the family had been members of 
the First Church, or attendants upon worship there, but 
the " New Lights," Avho were a sort of revivalists, caused 
a secession of many of the people, some of whom joined 
the Baptists and some the Congregationalists. 

The two sons of Captain Corey, afterwards known as 
" Deacon Elijah," and " Deacon Timothy," joined the 
Baptists. 

Deacon Timothy in his young manhood was a militia 
captain in this town and in the second war with Eng- 



AN ANCIENT WEDDING. 183 

land, on tlie muster roll for 1813 and 1814, liis nam.' 
appears as Captain, Robert S. Davis as Lieutenant, and 
Thomas Griggs as Ensign. 

Moses Jones and Daniel Pierce, with two or thr.'e 
other less familiar names, were " Music Serjeants." It 
was during the year 1814 that a detachment from th«^ 
Brookline compau}^ consisting of thirty men, was onlrrcd 
to P'ort Independence, by Colonel Dudley, for three 
months' duty. 

Deacon Timothy Corey built the house now occupied 
by his son of the same name, early in the present cen- 
tury. Remarried Mary, daughter of Caleb Gardner <>f 
this town. After the death of his mother he had tlie old 
black house torn down, and sul>se(piently l)uilt the pres- 
ent stone house upon the site of it. He was a man who 
was much beloved and respected in his life, and sin«'erely 
mourned in his death. lie died in August, 1844, aged i\'2. 

Elijah Corey, afterwards the deacon, married, when 
quite young, Polly Leeds of Dorcliester, from the same 
Leeds family previously mentioned. This was in No- 
vember, 1797. The '* wedding visit " * was a gay affair for 
those times, and a quiet farming place, as Brookline was 
then. Almost everybody in the town was invited, and 
there was the inspiriting music of a life and dniin. 
There was not much iinery in those days, but what tliere 
was, was conspicuous on this occasion. An old citizen 
tells us that his mother, then young and fair, wore a nt'W 
Avhite silk hat, with white feathers, almost exactly in the 
style of those worn by young ladies the present season. 

Mr. William Ackers, the former owner of the Fisher 
place on the corner of Boylston Street, used to relate an 
incident of his own participation in this ancient wedding. 
He was a stylish young man in those days, and li.id had 

* The old time name for a " deception." 



184 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

black satin " small-clothes," ordered for the occasion, but 
as he was leaving his own house, a sudden slip in the 
muddy yard brought his satin finery to utter discomfiture, 
and he was forced to go back and make his toilet anew, 
in plainer garb. The old house (lately the Bartlett house) 
was crowded with merry guests and the cheerful occasion 
was an event long talked of afterwards. In 1821, when 
his son Elijah was married, the father built the house on 
the hill on the south side of the street, and the son occu- 
pied the old house during the remainder of his life. 

Deacon Elijah Corey was left a widower in 1827, and 
in 1829 married the widow of Captain Robert S. Davis. 

The causeway across the valley from Washington 
Street to the steep hillside was built by Deacon Corey 
about fifty years ago. At the entrance of it stood a 
barn, underneath which was a cider-mill. This barn was 
destroyed by fire several years since. 

All the Corey s of three generations have been farmers 
and have been considered shrewd, practical men. The 
two brothers, Elijah and Timothy, were among the first 
projectors of the Baptist Church enterprise in this town, 
and to that purpose devoted time, labor, and money. 

None who were familiar with the old Baptist vestry 
will ever forget Deacon Elijah Corey's voice and manner 
in his old age. If the meeting flagged and there was an 
awful silence, Deacon Corey would strike out in a high 
key, '' Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove," to the tune 
of Turner, or St. Martin's, or " Life is the time to serve 
the Lord," to the tune of Wells, or some other familiar 
old hymn, and by the time he had sung a line or two, 
other voices joined in and the solo became, not lost in, 
but a part of, a chorus. 

His exhortations abounded in striking metaphors and 
strong language, frequently beginning with, " Brethren, 



ORIGIN OF CYPRESS STRKKT. 18.') 

a tliouglit struck me," and he usually made the thi.u<rht 
strike his hearers before he finished. He often ended an 
exhortation with tlie desire that tlie Lord would '' make 
our souls like the chariots of Amminadib" (Son«^ of Solo- 
mon vi. 1*2). But in what respect this would have been 
desirable, was not ai)parent to the listeners ; and we of tfu 
wondered what the good deacon's idea of such a condi- 
tion of soul might be. There is no question, however, 
but that all through his life he had at heart not only the 
building up of his church here but of the denomination 
to which he belonged, not only here but abroad. 

He was one of the Trustees of Newton Theological In- 
'stitution, and many a lack in finance both there ami at 
the Missionary Rooms, was filled out from Deacon Corey's 
purse. 

He died in ^lay, 1850, aged eighty-six, and was buried 
from the Baptist Church. A bunch of apple-blossoms, a 
fit tribute to one who had been all his life a farmer, was 
the only floral offering laid upon his breast. 

CYPRESS STREET. 

On the 11th of May, 1719, it was ordennl that a new 
town way should be opened, ^^ from Watertown road be- 
tween the farms of Mr. Rowland Cotton and Mr. Thomas 
Cotton, all the way in the said Thomas Cotton's hw^d, 
and so into the land belonging to the heirs of Caleb 
Gardner, into Sherburne road, for the convenience of tlie 
people in the north part of the town in going to meet- 
ing." 

This was the origin of Cypress Street, which was calle<l 
the '' New Lane " for more than one hundred and twenty 
years. It was only a narrow lane through woods and 
bushes, and much of it so low as to be very wet, and at 
some seasons quite covered with water. 

13 



186 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The " Sherburne road," was what is now Wahiut 
Street, and " the land belonging to the heirs of Caleb 
Gardner," was the present Bird place. 

Before Cypress Street was opened, as early as 1706, it 
was " Voted, that there should be a burying-place, on the 
south side of the hill on Mr. Cotton's farm, between the 
two roads, if it can be obtained." 

But it could not be " obtained," and for eleven years 
afterwards people were obliged to carry their dead out of 
town for burial, as many of their descendants are obliged 
to do at present.* 

The two corner houses at the entrance of this street, 
have been previously described. 

The land in the street in front of the corner house, 
now owned by Dr. Salisbury, was originally part of the 
yard to that house, and included the great elm tree. 
When it became necessary to have the corner rounded on 
that side of the street, the way was carried through the 
yard, but the triangular piece, including the great elm 
and the other elm, not long since cut down, still belonged 
to the old house, and was at one time inclosed for a short 
time by a slight railing to prevent forfeiture. The right 
to so inclose it held good until within the last quarter 
century. 

The place long known as the Searle place, was bought 
in 1817 by a Mr. Hubbard, a carpenter, who built the 
church on Roxbury Hill, known as the " Eliot Church," 
opposite the Norfolk House. Mr. Hubbard altered and 
added to his shop the next year and made a house of it 
in which he lived. Directly opposite, there was placed 
soon after an old barn which was removed from opposite 
the old Croft house on Washington Street. This was on 

* Since this was written, a lot, upon Grove St., has been purchased for a 
Cemetery. 



THE SEARLE PLACE. IS? 

the Crafts place. Mr. Hubbard did not nuicli admire the; 
addition to his neighborhood and left Mr. Crafts no peace, 
and after several years the barn was disposed of. 

Mr. Hubbard was succeeded in the ownership of his 
house by Mr. George Searle, who altered and enlarged, 
and at last built the additional house nearest the street, 
thus making two houses, though so joined as to appear 
as one. 

The various changes and additions which have been 
made in these houses have produced some most original 
specimens of architecture, such as would hardly be found 
in any volume on the subject, ancient or modern. Thev 
must be seen to be appreciated. The garden was for- 
merly a very fine one of the old fashioned ty])e. A large 
butternut tree near the centre was surrounded bv a cir- 
cular seat. Gravel walks, profusely bordered with pinks, 
separated beds of tulips, roses, and other flowers, while 
rustic arbors were overrun with honeysuckle, woodbine, 
and other vines. Choice fruit trees, and many grafts on 
natural stocks, two or three on the same, gave great vari- 
ety in this line, and ornamental trees and flowering shrubs 
filled up the intervening spaces. 

In the eastern house, there was kept for many years a 
boarding-school for young ladies, under the charge of 
Miss Lucy Searle, a lady of much culture and taste ; and 
at various times there were pupils here from distant 
States, even as far as Georgia. The western part of the 
house was at one time occupied by Hon. Ellis Gray Lor- 
ing. jNIany distinguished visitors have at various times 
been entertained within these houses. Among these 
were Judge Story, Dr. and Mrs. Follen, Mrs. Lydia 
Maria Child, Professor Norton, William Page and Gam- 
badelli, artists, Mrs. Caroline Gilman, and many others 
more or less known to the literarv world. 



188 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The house now owned b}^ Mr. Sturtevant, was built 
for the late Amos Atkinson of this town, was afterwards 
occupied by Deacon Lambert, who after several years' 
residence here went to New York, and from that time 
till it came into possession of its present owner, it was 
the property of Samuel A. Walker, the well-known 
auctionesr. Mr. Walker at one time owned a great deal 
of real estate in Brookline, and took quite a conspicuous 
part in local affairs. On the opposite side of the street 
about forty years ago, quite a tract of land was owned 
by Mr. John Gorham, — the new avenue on that side 
bears his name. 

Mr. Moses Jones, the father of the present citizen of 
that name, built his house about forty years ago, and 
settled there, and made his farm on both sides of the 
street one of the finest and most productive of fruit and 
vegetables of any in the vicinity. 

On the west side of the street much of the land, as we 
have said, was low and swampy, and some of it was 
heavily timbered. Mr. Jones bought twenty-seven acres 
of this land for four thousand dollars, and proceeded to 
clear and drain and improve it. He sold a great deal of 
heavy white oak timber off it to Boston ship-builders. 
The one great oak at the entrance to Tappan Street is a 
specimen of what the place produced in the way of trees. 

The road was so low at this point not many years ago 
that the land on which the tree stands was walled up 
some three feet above the level of the road. There was 
probably, at some distant period, a pond covering all the 
level ground on both sides of Cypress Street, from the 
Blake place to the rising ground west of Mr. Beck's 
place in Davis Avenue, and from near Washington Street 
on the north to the rising ground near Boylston Street 
on the south, since, within the memory of persons now 



BOYLSTOX STin-.K/r. 189 

living at an advanced age, there was a great deal of 
standing water on this territory during most of the yeur. 
In digging to drain it some sixty or seventy vears ago, 
large tree stumps, and beds of clam and other sliells, were 
found from six to ten feet below the surface. 

The fine orcliard on the southerly slope of the hill, 
in the sheltered angle between the woods on the Aspin- 
wall and l^lake places, was set out by Farmer Jones. Ho 
planted alternate rows of apple and peach trees, and 
while the former were coming to maturity, the latter lived 
a short and prolific life, and then gave place to the sturdy 
and beautiful trees that have been admired by every 
passer-by for many years. 

Boylston Street was not laid out when the *'New 
Lane," was made, nor for some time afterwards, so that 
there was no intersecting street the whole length of the 
lane. After Boylston Street was laid out there was a 
school-house built on the corner of what is now Mr. Bird's 
land, and a private school was kept there for several 
years by a Miss Stebbins. The name of Cypress Street 
was given in 1840. 

BOYLSTON STREET. 

Boylston Street, that is, that part of it from its entrance 
at the village to the gate-house of the old reservoir^ and 
from the beginning of Heath Street to the NewtoiTline, 
was a part of the old Worcester Turnpike, and its con- 
struction was entered upon in 18()<). 

An arch over the road at the village indicate 1 the point 
from which toll-rates were to be reckoned, and the tirst 
toll-gate was established at the u])per j>art of the town 
near what was known for many years as Richards' Tav- 
ern. Turnpike roads were constructed so as to Im» as 
nearly straight as possible, an.l with this en<l in vi.-w 



190 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

went over hills and through valleys, when a short detour 
would have saved time and wear of travel. The road 
was carried over the summit of Bradley's Hill, and was 
consequently so very steep that loaded teams almost inva- 
riably were obliged to go round by the old road, by the 
Unitarian Church. 

The two old houses belonging to Major White, on the 
present site of Guild's Block, have been described in a 
former chapter. From these, to the houses on the estate 
of the late Benjamin Goddard, there was not a house on 
either side of the street, for many years. 

The first house built was the small one, now the second 
east of Dr. Shurtleif 's and at present standing endways 
to the street. It formerly stood fronting the street, and 
was built by a man named Rafter, an English or Scotch 
gardener, who at that time was employed by Richard Sul- 
livan, Esq., who lived on the place now occupied by Mrs. 
Bowditch, next the reservoir. 

After Mr. Rafter, the house was bought by John 
Pierce, a tanner, who carried on the business there for sev- 
eral years. He was a worthy man, and in his early years 
was in the employ of Deacon Robinson, who afterwards 
aided him in establishing himself in business. 

About the year 1820 or 1822, Mr. Richard Sullivan, 
General Dearborn, and several other gentlemen, formed 
a company or corporation for the purpose of establish- 
ing a classical school in Brookline, for boys, and bought 
a part of the ground now included in Dr. Shurtleff's 
place, and built for a school-room the present southerly 
wing or projection of the house. It was considered at 
that time the finest piece of architecture in the vicinity, 
and was looked upon with great interest as a valuable ad- 
dition to the town. 

Afterwards the house was built, as a boarding-house 



GIDEON THAYER. — GEORGE li. EMEKSON. 191 

for the pupils, and thus the school-huil.llni,' lost its dis- 
tinctive character. The first teadu-r was a Mr. Barlow. 
A Mr. Hubbard was for some tiuK^ owner of tin* house 
and school-house. In the year l8:Uj Mr. Gideon Thay- 
er, the founder of Chauncy Hall School, j)urchaH<'d the 
place of ^h. Hubbard, and n^nioved here with his family, 
bringing with him a number of delicate boys whosi? par- 
ents were anxious to have them enjoy the purer air and 
freedom of the country. Mr. Thayer employed a sub- 
master for the Brookline branch of his school, and con- 
tinued his Boston school as before. Mr. Thayer had been 
a resident of Brookline in his childhood, and his jiarcnts 
died here, in the house on the corner of School ami Wiush- 
ington streets. When he returned to Brookline he at 
once connected himself with the First Parish, and during 
the five years of his residence here he worked as super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school with all the vigor and 
personal interest which he infused into everything he 
undertook. The memoir of this excellent man, while it 
gives his traits as a teacher admirably, does not treat of 
that other side of his character, whieh made him eminently 
the friend of the poor and the struggling. Many a poor 
boy he taught gratuitously, and many more he set up in 
business. Poor women came to him as their friend and 
counsellor, and wherever he lived or worked he left his 
mark upon the community. He evidently felt Ihiliself 
but a steward for the Great Master, an almoner of his 
Lord's bounty. He might have been a rich man, but he 
preferred to be an unselfish one, and as such he has gone 
to the reward of the faithful. 

After several years Mr. Thayer returned to Boston, hav- 
ing sold the place to George B. Emerson of Boston, the 
well-known educator. The Classical School w:is con- 
tinued in various private houses for a few yeai*s longer 



192 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

with varying success, and was finally abandoned. Mr. 
Emerson lived in the stone house two years, and daring 
that time spent a winter in Boston, having leased his house 
to William Ware, the author of " Last Days of Aurelian," 
" Zenobia," and various other works. "Zenobia" was 
written in the north parlor of that house. It being be- 
fore the days of furnaces or double windows, the shiver- 
ing author had a difficult time in keeping his ink and 
his blood in a circulating condition. The book was pub- 
lished in 1838. 

About this time Dr. Shurtleff, the late owner, pur- 
chased the place of Mr. Emerson, adding to the land by a 
purcliase of half an acre on the west, from the property 
of Moses Jones, to whom it came by way of the Clarks, 
who were owners on the east side of Cypress Street. 

There are still standing on the Shurtleff place, an old 
pear tree and two apple trees, which were set out by 
Thomas Cotton who built the old Davis house, and owned 
all the land which has been previously mentioned as the 
Cotton property. From the Cottons, it will be remem- 
bered, it came to the Davises, and was finally sold off in 
small lots to one purchaser after another, and this place 
was a part of it. 

In this house was born, June 18, 1840, Carlton At- 
wood, youngest son of Dr. S. A. Shurtleff. He was edu- 
cated in the Brookline schools, fitted for Harvard College 
under Mr. J. E. Hoar at our High School, and graduated 
in the class of 1861. He was greatly interested in botany 
and entomology, and after graduating, studied with Pro- 
fessor Agassiz for a year. He then studied medicine at 
the Harvard Medical School, and with his father and Dr. 
T. E. Francis of this town. During the War of the Re- 
bellion he entered the United States army as a medical 
cadet, and served first on a floating hospital on the Mis- 



DR. SAMUEL A. SHURTLKFF. ]: 



iiert» 



sissippi River during the siege of Vicksburg. Hr tl 
contracted chills and fever, and received a sliort furlough. 
He came home, but as soon as his In-altli wouM achuitrc- 
turned to the armj^ and was assigned to tlie Cotton Fac- 
tory Hospital in Harrisburg, immediately after tlic batth* 
of Gettysburg, where he labored three months, and after- 
wards was on duty in the hospitals of Pliiladelphia. His 
health was impaired by the ehills whieli lie contracted in 
front of Vicksburg, and after a sliort and sudden illness 
he died at his home in Brookline, June 2G, 1804, aged 
twenty -four years. He was a member of the Boston So- 
ciety of Natural History and the Numismatic Society, and 
in his favorite studies he had made close and valuable in- 
vestigations, and left ably prepared papers u])on various 
scientific topics. 

But it was chiefly for his blameless life and beautiful 
traits of character that this young man was beloved and 
mourned. He was a member of the New Church (Higli 
Street) in Brookline, and was one of the most active 
among the young people of the society in all good works. 
As one of his college classmates expressed it after his 
death, '^ he was thoughtful, religious, yet ever happy 
through infinite faith. He was not afraid to die." 
Though he did not fall in field or camp, there K no 
doubt that his precious young life must be added tVtlie 
fatal list of those which the Rebellion cost. 

Dr. Samuel A. Shurtleff, long an eminent pliysieian in 
Boston, has been identified with Brookline for tln' [)ast 
thirty years. He died :March 11, IHT-I From an obitu- 
ary which was published in the " Brookline Transcript " 
soon after his death, the following is copied : — 

'' He came of the old Puritan stock, being the sixth in (Icscent 
from his ancestor who came over iu the Mayfoirvr, and who 



was still living in 1699. 



194 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

" His boyhood was spent on the ancestral farm which had de- 
scended from father to son from the time that it was bought from 
the Indians, and which he possessed at the time of his death. 
He studied medicine with his brother, the late Dr. Benjamin 
ShurtlefF, and taking his medical degree at Brown University he 
commenced the practice of his profession in Boston, in which he 
continued until the year 1838, when the destruction of his pleas- 
ant garden, by the demolition of Pemberton Hill, combined with 
serious attacks of ill health, induced by the cares and exposure 
of a large practice, determined him to remove from the city. In 
that year he removed to his late residence on Boylston Street in 
this town, where he has since led a life of comparative retire- 
ment. 

'' He had a great fondness for the study of natural history, 
especially conchology. He discovered a number of new varie- 
ties of shells, hitherto unknown, and left one of the finest and 
most complete collections in New England. 

" He was also a devoted horticulturist, and succeeded in add- 
ing to the list of known pears, a large number of new kinds, 
some of them of great value. In middle life he was a member, 
and for some time vice-president, of the Horticultural Society, 
and took an active part in the proceedings. 

" His life in later years has been uneventful, but he had a 
mind full of resources, and intelligent to the last, and his time 
was always usefully and pleasantly occupied. 

" His final illness was of short duration, and after a few rest- 
less hours he quietly passed to that better life, for which he has 
long been prepared, and to which he looked forward in perfect 
confidence and peace." 

Bradley's hill. 

Bradley's Hill, formerly called Walley's Hill, was 
bought' of Mr. Thomas Walley, who lived on the present 
Bird place, about the year 1820, by Benjamin Bradley. 

This individual was as much a part of Brookline as Dr. 
Pierce, or the old stone school-house ; and no account of 



Bradley's hill. 103 

the town could reproduce it " as It was," witlinut Wvu. 
Bradley in it. 

Mr. Bradley came to this town in his youth, and h-arned 
his trade (a carpenter) of Mr. Natlianicl Munlnck. Ho 
was soon hired as sexton of tlu^ Unitarian Chuivh, and 
served in that capacity for tliirty years. For several 
years he held the office of town constable. 11(3 was also 
captain of the Brookline militia about ten years, and was 
thenceforth known as Captain Bradley. 

We think it was Sydney Smith, who once said that if 
a woman were obliged to give a military conipanv the 
order to *' Halt ! " she would do it on tliis wise, "Now 
soldiers, what I want of you is, that you shouKl all stop, 
and stand still right where you are and not stir another 
step till I tell you to." One of Captiiin Bradley's first 
military orders was about as verbose, " Now ft'llow sol- 
diers, let's all see if we can't form a straight line;" — 
quite a necessary arrangement, one would suppose from 
descriptions, given by witnesses, of the company that 
marched behind him to the music of the druui and life. 

Soon after Mr. Bradley bought the hill, he j)urchased 
a very old gambrel-roofed one-story house of Mr. .T(»]ni 
Warren on Warren Street, and moved it to tlie west sid<» 
of the hill. This was the beginning of the settlement 
which became so notorious. From time to tim(v otljer 
houses were built, or bought and moved to the hill, till it 
was covered. For many years it was a elirap and coni- 
fortable place for poor but respei-table American nu'chan- 
ics and laborers to live. Mr. Bradley is said to have 
been a kind landlord, very reasonable in liis tharg«'s for 
rent, and lenient with those who through sii-kiu'ss or mis- 
fortune were unable to pay, and had a friendly way of 
leaving a turkey at every tenant's door the night before 
Thanksgiving. 



196 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

What animosities and small revenges he chose to show 
toward those whom he had occasion, or thought he had, 
to dislike, generally embodied themselves in little mean- 
looking houses stuck up on the nearest piece of land, to the 
object of his aversion, which he could obtain. Several 
such remain to keep his memory green. 

The most conspicuous building upon his hill will long 
be remembered as " Ben Bradley's Meeting-house." This 
was a caricature of a church produced by the transfer of a 
large old barn to the top of the hill. A gothic or arched 
window, such as usually is placed in the end of a church 
building, was placed conspicuously in the middle of the 
side, a belfry and tower surmounted by a painted weath- 
ercock graced the front, and the old and time-honored 
pulpit, once almost hallowed by the prayers and sermons 
of the venerable Father Grafton of Newton, adorned the 
inside. 

A part of this structure he finished off for tenements 
and let them to Irish families ; the rest he used for a car- 
penter's shop. In this shop, by way of keeping life 
cheerful, he had a coffin which he used to try occasion- 
ally, to see if it fitted him, but growing too corpulent, 
long before he needed such an indispensable article, he 
had a larger one made. He made the old coffin ser- 
viceable for some time by placing it on end, putting in 
one or two shelves and using it as a closet for his liquors. 
It was finally sold to one of his tenants. 

On Sundays he sometimes gathered around him a crowd 
of " the baser sort," and mounting the old pulpit, he held 
forth in harangues more profane and ludicrous than wise 
or useful, ending with a treat to his audience. 

The old building surrounded by little houses was so 
conspicuous an object that strangers coming to town 
almost invariably asked what denomination occupied that 
hill. 



BEN BIIADLKY. 107 

The priiK'ipjil part of the settlement near Jamaica I'cnd, 
known as "Grab Villa<,'e;' " Dnhlin," ^^ New Irchind," 
etc., Avas built by Mr. Bradley. He purcluised the land 
and put up a little red house in full view of Mr. Thomas 
Lee's residence, and then went to Mr. Lee and (h'sin'd 
him to buy it at a great price. Mr. Lee would do no such 
thing ; whereupon Mr. Bradh^y })roceeded to cover it with 
little houses. Mr. Lee set out shade trees alon*' his own 
lawn, on the edge of the hill, and scn-ncly sat down in 
their shadow, too indei)endent to be annoyed bv so small 
dealino- a neio;hbor. 

The two little houses opposite the Philbrick place on 
Walnut Street are specimens of his handiwork in a goo<l 
neighborhood ; and there was a time when he owned or 
held mortgages upon considerable property in the vil- 
lage. Though not dependent upon his trade he went 
about with a tool-box on his arm, in garments that made 
him look poorer than his poorest tenant. Mr. liradley 
was married twice if not more, but left no heirs nearer 
than cousins. The hill was sold before his death to Mr. 
Hart. 

Captain Bradley died July ^>\, IS.")!!. 
In his will he left five hundred dollars for the poor of 
the town, but it could not be made available. There 
were strange contradictions in the character of this^^itigu- 
hir man. He was genial and kindly with the poor, and 
old people and little children ; and with all his faults he 
had many redeeming qualities. His keen sense of the 
ludicrous and his innate lack of reverence, made him turn 
to ridicule much that others held sacred ; yet there were 
times Avhen the better impulses in his nature s<*emed strug- 
gling for the mastery; and there are peojjle still living 
to whom he frankly confessed his faults, aiul owned his 
struggles after a better life. He had an opj)ortunity to 



198 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

make himself a beloved and respected landlord ; and the 
hill, so beautiful for its prospect and fine air, might be 
to-day covered with the neat and well-kept dwellings of a 
respectable class of mechanics and laborers, had he used 
his means as he might have done, and left a memory to 
be honored. 

Perhaps a slight difference in the training of his boy- 
hood might have prevented the moral kink which twisted 
his finer traits awry ; and might have made him a bless- 
ing to the community instead of what he was. 

Let us leave him with " Him who seeth not as man 
seeth," and who alone knows the heart.* 

* The hill was sold again in 1871 to the Goddard heirs, and the houses moved 
to Sewall Street, a locality which has since been known as " Hart's Content." 



BRIGHTON STRKKT. 199 



CHAPTER XI. 

BOYLSTON AND BRIGHTON STUKKTS. WALMT STHF.KT. 

HOUSES ALONG TIIIC LOWKU IWUT. TlIK WALLKV Oil 

BIRD HOUSES. THE CLARK HOUSE. THE CEMETERY. 

"pEKHAPS we owe our readers an apology for detain- 
-L ing tliem so long on Bradley's Hill, but the snumifr 
winds have swept over its now houseless sununit, and the 
winter snows have spread their purest mantle over it. 
Moreover, the prospect from it is very beautiful, so we 
will take a look and pass on. All the interesting ol»l 
places from Bradley's Hill to the points of divergence, at 
Brighton Street and Pleath Street, are properly a ])art «»f 
the history of '' the old road," and as such we shall leave 
them till we write of that. Above this point thr Wor- 
cester Turnpike begins again ; and consecpirntly there are 
no houses upon it which date back to a very early j>eriod. 
]\lost of the land through which this section of the turn- 
pike passes, has been for the last fifty years the prope^-ty 
of the Pennimans, Heaths, Sandersons, and I.ymans. 

Brighton Street was laid out as a road-way from the 
" old Sherburne road " to Brighton, more than a hundn-d 
and fifty years ago. 

The first house on this street stood on thf east side, 
nearly opposite the present residence of Mr. J. Loring. 
In it lived Addington Gardner, once a jirominent citizen 
of the town, and whose signature, not unlike John Han- 
cock's of Revolutionary fame, in its appearance, is famil- 



200 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

iar to those wlio have seen many old legal documents of 
the town. He married a sister of Rev. Mr. Allen, the 
first minister of this town, and removed to Sherborn. 
He was a justice of the peace. 

The next house was that of Isaac Gardner, first deacon 
of the First Church in the town. He died in 1767, aged 
eighty-three years. 

His son Isaac inherited the house, and was in little 
more than a year after his father's death rendered home- 
less by fire. The family was very large, consisting of 
eighteen persons, and nearly all their household goods 
were destroyed. The loss was estimated, as appears by 
the " Massachusetts Gazette " of September 8, 1768, at 
from four to five thousand pounds, O. T. The people of 
the town met on the following Monday (the fire was on 
Friday), and though there were at that time but fifty 
families in the town, they contributed one hundred 
pounds, toward helping Mr. Gardner to rebuild his house. 
When it is remembered that this was when the country 
was comparatively new, that the people of Brookline were 
nearly all farmers, and that it was also at the time when 
the colonies were groaning and impoverished under Brit- 
ish taxation, it will be seen that the Brookline of those 
days was generous and prompt to relieve distress as well 
as the richer and more prosperous Brookline of the 
present. 

The new house was built upon the old site. Mr. Isaac 
Gardner was educated at Harvard College, but he chose 
to follow the agricultural pursuit of his father. He was 
a justice of the peace, and in every capacity, civil, social, 
and religious, was a popular and much beloved citizen. 

The slowly-brewing troubles of the coming Revolution 
fired his patriotic blood, and the people of the town made 
him captain of their militia. 



CAPTAIN ISAAC GAKDNKR. -JQl 

On the morning of the battle of Loxin«,rtnii tli.- inimite- 
men of Brookhne assembled in front of tlie cliinvli. 
Their captain, always before so bright ami ch«-erful, was 
under the shadow of a great oppression. As he tcKjk 
leave of his wife and his eight children, his impression 
that it was his final leave-taking so overpowered him that 
he could not conceal it, and he told his wife that lie should 
never return to her alive. Before he reached the church 
he met the wife of Deacon Davis, who with her little chil- 
dren in a chaise, was hastening for safety to the upper 
part of the town. He stopped and spoke to her, askin<' 
her to call on her way and try to console his wife whom 
he had left weeping at the gate. 

The brave and handsome cai)tain was in the prinif (.f 
life and " every inch a soldier," but his war-rccoid was 
brief indeed. Before night he fell, pierced by six British 
bullets while drinking at a well in ("ambridge, about a 
mile above the College on the Lexington road. 

Dr. Aspinwall and Mr. Ebenezer Davis cared for the 
body as well as they could that night. The sjul news 
was brought home to Brookline, and the next morning 
Mr. Heath, his neighbor, went to Cand)ridge with his 
wagon and brought home to the atllicted family all that 
remained of the beloved husband and father. The whole 
town was plunged into grief at the loss of so beloved a^id 
respected a citizen. 

His age was forty-nine years. His son, General Isaac 
Sparhawk Gardner, was the next owner of tlu^ house. He 
was an unusually fine singer, and for many years was 
leader of the choir of the First Church. Dr. Tierce in 
his Jubilee Address speaks of him as '' the sweet singer 
of our Israel." He died in IS IS. 

General Gardner had ten children. At tiie birth of 
each he planted a tree within his land beside the roaci. 
u 



202 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The whole row had grown to ample size and beauty, but 
were destroyed at the recent widening of the street.* 
The descendants of the Gardners, bearing other names, 
still live in our community. 

The house was at one time owned by Mr. Elisha Penni- 
man, and afterwards by Deacon Daniel Sanderson. Mr. 
Sanderson, though not a native of Brookline, lived here 
many years, held various town offices, and was a promi- 
nent member of the Baptist Church. He built two houses 
on the west side of Brighton Street. 

On the east side of the street, there formerly stood 
north of the Gardner house, a house owned and occupied 
by John Seaver, who died before the Revolutionary war. 
His house was torn down on account of its great age, early 
in the present century. 

WALNUT STKEET. 

This street, known for years as " the old Sherburne 
road," is the oldest in the town, and was probably one 
of the first roads in the colony of Massachusetts Bay. 
When it was extended as far as Framingham, then the 
outmost frontier of civilization, it was considered the ne 
plus ultra of Colonial necessity in that direction, as it 
was not probable that white people would eve?' penetrate 
further tvest into the ivilderness. And it was little better 
at first than an Indian trail, winding as it did from the 
humble abode of one settler to another, between high, 
thick forests, out of which might echo at any moment the 
cry of the prowling wolf or the more dreaded war whoop 
of the red man. 

* There is a local tradition that at the time of the battle of Lexington, Isaac 
Gardner's family was living in the ancient Gardner house now occupied by 
George W. Stearns, but his descendants have no evidence that he ever lived 
there, and Dr. Pierce, who received his information from persons who remem- 
bered all the circumstances, locates him at the Brighton Street house, where his 
son set out the trees. See Appendix, house 26, Town Hall Address. 



WALNUT STHKKT. OQ3 

Yet less than twenty years had passed aft.T William 
Bhickstone had settled in Shawmut, and called it Tri- 
mountain, before Muddy River Hamlet had three hijrl,. 
ways leading through it, and our Walnut Street began to 
be called " the old road." 

The land from the lower end, or entrance of the 8tn«et, 
on the right side as far np as the alley now known as 
'' Cat Alley," and on the left or south sid«% nearlv or 
quite to Sewall Street, was probably "the grt'at lott," 
Avhieh was granted to Thomas Leverett, and was after- 
Avards for many years the property of Governor Leverett 
and was nsed by him for pasture lots for his cattle aud 
sheep. Northward it was bounded by the lands of the 
Cottons. How far southward this *' great lott " extended 
Ave cannot learn, but there were one hundred and seventv- 
five acres of it and somewhere upon it stood a house. 
The Governor, John Leverett, inherited it from his fatlier, 
Thomas. He was Governor from 1G71 to IDT-). 

Sometime, but at what date we cannot learn, a part of 
this land came into possession of the Whites. It is so 
often necessary to allude to this once nuuierous family 
that perhaps it is proper to explain that the common an- 
cestor of the Brookline families of this name, whichever 
Avay it is spelled, was John White, bi^-n in I^ULclandaiKl 
who is traced to Dorchester, to Watertown, and thence to 
Brookline. From him descended ^lajor Kdward White, 
and all the rest, some of the family having gone back to 
the original spelling of the name as ascertained in English 
records to be Whyte. 

All the early settlements on this road were from about 
the head of Cypress Street and so on westward, for many 
years. The whole history of the lower part of tin* roa«l 
is comparatively modern. The garrison-house for the set- 
tlement, when it Avas so small and so exposed as to need a 



204 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF LROOKLINE. 

garrison-house, was just behind the present house of the 
Clark family on tlie left of the entrance to Chestnut 
Street. 

As some of our younger readers may not have met with 
a description of this sort of house we will briefly de- 
scribe it in passing. It was a log-house, with one door 
but no windows in the lower story. The upper story 
projected over the lower, three or four feet on all sides. 
This was fort and storehouse for the whole settlement, 
and into it were huddled the women and children in all 
cases of alarm from the Indians. In the projecting floor 
of the upper story were loop-holes, from Avhich the boards 
could be taken up, and through which the Avomen could 
pour down boiling water upon the savages in case they 
came close to the building to set it on fire. 

Whether the Brookline garrison-house was ever thus 
attacked and defended, we have unfortunately no histori- 
cal records in existence to tell us. Of the wild animals 
which made personal defense necessary, there is sufficient 
evidence, in the fact that a premium of twenty shillings 
was paid to Philip Curtis for killing a wolf, in November, 
1657. 

It needs therefore no great stretch of imagination to 
picture to the mind one of the ancient Whites, Goddards, 
Aspinwalls, or Griggses, riding on horseback on a Sun- 
day morning, with his wife on a pillion behind, and his 
musket strapped across his shoulders, winding along the 
narrow and thickly wooded road to Roxbury meeting- 
house to hear the Apostle EUot preach ; or returning at 
nightfall along the same way, with a furtive .glance toward 
the darkening shades of the stone-quarries then unbroken 
by the hammer, lest the sly panther in the boughs of 
some overhanging oak might pounce upon him from its 
dusky retreat ; or a pack of wolves baying with hunger 



MR. THOMAS ASl'INWAI.I.. 20.') 

in the wilds of Parker's Hill, (►r the Ward farm, shouhl 
scent human prey and eome dut upon its traih 

But though, as we liave said, tlic lower cud of Walnut 
Street was not built upon till many yrars later than tlie 
upper part of it, there are some houses whieh havr ac- 
quired age enough to need mention and wi; therefore re- 
turn to the beginning of the street. 

The house now used as the Infant Asyhiiu was built 
early in the present century for a man named i-'diphalet 
Spurr, who owned the line of eoachcs wliidi in those days 
made daily trij)s to Boston. 

The coaches ran from tlu* " Punch liowl." Mr. Spurr 
sold out to Azariah Fuller after a while, but whether Mr. 
Fuller ever occupied the house or not we are not informed, 
nor of anything further in its history till it became the 
property of Thomas and Klizabcth Aspinwall, eliihlren of 
Colonel Thomas Aspinwall who lived in the house on 
Sewall Avenue which was at last burnt, and who was 
commanch'r at the fort on SewalTs Point. 

" Mr. Thomas and Miss Eliza." as they were commonly 
called, lived for many years in the house on Walnut 
Street. Mr. Thomas was deaf and dund), but like many 
others thus afflicted, his other faculties seemed shar]»cned 
to unusual acuteness. He was for years thoroughly iden- 
tified with the village and its surroundings, learned aU)the 
news, and every morning walked up to the house of his 
elder sister, Mrs. Holden (who lived when- Mr. Panter 
now lives), and told her ui)on his lingers all the items of 
interest which he had collected. 

Mr. Aspinwall loved his garden and cultivated it with 
his own hands with nuicli success, and evi.lcnt enj«)yment 
of Howers, fruits, and vegetables. He liad (luite a genius 
for mechanical employments and was very skillful in the 
use of tools. Mr. A'spinwall iidierited fn.ni his father 



206 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

some land where Longwood Station now stands. About 
the time the BrookUne Branch Raih'oad was projected, 
this land was purchased for one hundred and fifty dollars 
an acre. It has since been sold for seventy-five cents a 
foot. 

He was already quite far advanced in life when the 
Hartford Institution for such unfortunates was founded, 
yet having heard of it he desired to receive its benefits. 
He sta^^ed but a little while and then returned, and when 
met by a look of inquiry from any of his friends, he shook 
his head sorrowfully and touched the wrinkles upon his 
forehead. Yet he was a cheerful man, and always espe- 
cially kind to children and interested in them ; " Uncle 
Thomas," many of them called him, and so indeed did 
many who were past childhood. New inventions and im- 
provements awakened his keen interest. The writer re- 
members in her childhood meeting " Uncle Thomas," 
near the door of Lyceum Hall building, Avhich was then 
nearly finished ; the stairway at that time went up 
through a commodious entry which has since been turned 
into a shop. The old gentleman instantly began to ges- 
ticulate with delight ; he had discovered something new 
to him, and he would have us share his pleasure. He 
took us into the entry and pointed out the hole in the 
floor, at which the furnace pipe was to come through, and 
with all the animation of a boy, described with liis nim- 
ble fingers the fire that was to burn in the unseen depths 
below, and the heat that was to come up and be diffused 
through the building. 

He saw that he was understood, and with a gesture of 
satisfaction put back the board that covered the hole, and 
bowing, walked away with his hands behind him. 

He was very religious, and greatly interested in all the 
missionary and other benevolent enterprises of the church. 



TMi: ihndrkdhi \u>v>\. 2<H 

He lijul one s|)(»t wlicrc lie kn.-lt tn ])r:i\, v.-ar aftn- vi-ar, 
two or three times every day. till tlir tl.M.r was worn thin 
wliere the toes of his shoes rested. Wliat secret wrest- 
lings Avith sorrow and pain, wliat hnndih' eonfessidns «>r 
]ieaven-l)(>ni as])irati(»ns were waftrd iipwanU in ili..>f 
silent ooinnumings none ever knew or will know ; Iml 
tluit they were heard in •' the sren't placfs of thr Most 
Iligli," while many a sonndiiiLr and wordy prayer falls 
battled by tlie way, none bnt the irrevfrmt can donbt. 

Miss lOliza, his constant companion, sank in consump- 
tion and died in the year ls42, aged (W. Ilcr silent 
brotlier survived her but little more than a year, and died 
of the same diseasi' in DeccMnber, '[><A^^, ag«'d 74. His 
benevolent face and atVable manners had won f«»r him a 
niche in the tender memories of all who knew him. 
Since the Aspinwalls passed away, the house has had 
many different occui)ants, and has been moderni/ed and 
greatly imj)roved within a few y«'ars. 

The old-fashioned, white English r()ses, with their pe- 
culiar fragrance, are somehow always associated in ("ur 
memory with ^Ir. Thomas Aspinwall and his sister, and 
the same bushes which he trained Ijeside the door were 
very recently growing there antl may be still. 

The next house standing upon the lower j)art of W al- 
nut Street was upon the lliilbrick place. It was built 
by John Tap[)an in iSiil, and was the one luniHredth 
house built in Brookline. Mr. Tappan was not long a 
resident here, and was succeeded by Mr. William l{«'pes 
who lived here eight or ten years, and was succeeded by 
Mr. Samuel Philbrick, who id(Mititi<'d himself with the 
interests of the town. He held various «.f!ices at dilb-r- 
ent times, being an Assessor, a member of the Board <»f 
Selectmen, and also of the School Connnittee. 

The next house upon the saine side of the street, 



208 HISTORICAL SKKTCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

though built a 3^ear earlier, was that now occupied by 
Mr. Cobb. It was built by Rev. Henry Colman, who 
studied theology with Dr. Pierce, was afterwards settled 
for several years over a church in Hingham, and then 
returned to Brookline. 

During several years of his residence here, he was 
principal of a select school for young ladies in Boston. 
He was afterwards pastor of the Barton Square Church 
in Salem, and died there. 

After Mr. Colman it was occupied by Captain Oxnard, 
Henry J. Oliver, Hezekiah Kendall (a son of Deacon 
Thomas Kendall), and since then by various others. 

The large stone house next beyond it, was built by 
Joseph Sewall, a descendant of Judge Sewall, Avhose 
history was given earlier in the course of these sketches. 
The grounds belonging to this place were quite exten- 
sive. Mr. Sewall lived here ten or twelve years, and his 
wife and three daughters died here. 

Sewall Street, as the upper part of Cypress Street was 
called, until the recent widening and extension, Avas but 
a narrow lane leading from Walnut Street to the back 
part of the Sewall place, and the wooded lands in the 
rear, and did not become a public way until within the 
last quarter of a century. It was a part of the " great 
lott of land " assigned to Governor Leverett, and after- 
wards became the property of a branch of the White 
family. Mr. Thomas White's heirs were the last of this 
family who owned any portion of it. It was accessible 
(within the memory of middle aged persons) by one of 
the most picturesque and beautiful of lanes, which led 
into a wild and tangled woodland. There was a path 
leading up the hill from where the lane ended, to the 
fence on the boundary of the estate of the late Thomas 
Lee. Through this there was an opening of which many 



THK SKWALL I'LACK. 209 

availed themselves for convenience of access t.. .JaMuiicji 
Pond. A large tract of land now under cultivation or 
covered Avitli the houses of Hart's Irish settlement, tnin»- 
ferred thither from Bradley's Hill, was a thickrt of 
alders, dogwood, and wild rose-bushes. Chrstnut Stn-i't 
was not constructed at that time, and the whole area of 
scores of acres was untraversed except hv the single cart 
path we have mentioned, leading from Walnut Street to 
the log bridge, and tlu-nce by a footpath to tln^ Leo 
place. 

The brook wandered at its own will, overflowing the 
surface except in the dry midsummer : a rude bridge of 
three or four logs was the only means of crossing it, and 
often this was not accessible from eitlH'i- side on account 
of the deep, black mud. 

This wooded tract was a sccun' harbor im- iuiiunnTablo 
snakes, of whose size and numbers, as reported by fr«»- 
quenters of the location, we shall give no account lest 
Ave be suspected of INIunchausenism. 

Before Chestnut Street was opened, this region had 
been partially cU'ared and drained, and the making of 
that street and the continuation of the lani», or Sewall 
Street, through to connect with it, altered the whole face 
of the country. 

There are many men in town, not yet ol<l, whv) ^^will 
recall delightful nutting excursions and rustic advenTurt»8 
in this wild and woody region. About thirty years ago 
a camp meeting of four days' continuanei^ was held in the 
only piece of ^'clearing" in these wo(k1s. It was acoe«- 
sible only through Sewall's lane. Of the success of the 
affair we think there could not be much to boast, a.s the 
nearness to Boston made it altogether too convenient for 
a class of perscms not drawn there by any religious pro- 
clivities. 



210 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The widening and extension of tlie lane made this 
beautiful rural region accessible for carriages, but it has 
had its day as a quiet and shady drive. The widening 
and the class of houses established upon the upper part 
of it have changed its whole character, and this part of 
Brookline will witli the present generation cease to be 
remembered " as it was," and be no pleasure to contem- 
plate as it is. 

The Sewall house was occupied after the Sewalls' re- 
moval by John Tilson, who resided for some years in the 
stone house near the corner of Sewall and Walnut streets. 
This family will be remembered by all who knew the 
three sons, John, Charles, and Robert, in the- Brookline 
schools. John Tilson held a colonel's commission during 
the late war, and Avas under General Sherman in his 
famous march through Geqrgia. Colonel Tilson bore an 
honorable record during the war, and at its close was 
retained in the service with the rank of major. He sub- 
sequently resigned. Mr. Tilson, senior, sold the wood- 
land above mentioned, and Hugh R. Kendall, a later 
owner, began the first improvements, in clearing and 
opening this retired region to the public. 

Deacon Lambert Avas at one time a resident in the 
stone house. The heirs of the late Nathan Hale also 
resided here for some time jDrevious to Mr. Fisher, the 
present occupant. 

The opposite corner of Sewall and Walnut streets was 
for many years, within the memor}^ of present inhabi- 
tants, the property of Jerathmeel Davenport. On this 
lot, near the street, stood the house of the first minister 
of Brookline, the Rev. James Allen. He was a native 
of Roxbury, but came here to live and to preach in 1718, 
and continued here till his death in 1748. 

His house, which was a very old one, was torn down 



THE WALLKY l'I.A( K. _, 1 

before the close of tlio last eentury, l)iit soiiu- n)s.-8 ami 
sweet-briers which lir si't out contimu'd to ^row from 
the old i'()(»ts beside the stone wall, until within a few 
years. This o-round is now in the luidill.- nf tin* slrt-ft. 

THH WALLKV I'LACK. 

The estate known for many years as •• the Walh-v 
place," comprised all that is now owned hv tlu* lirii-s of 
the late Jesse Bird, and extended weslwuid nearly to tiie 
boundary of the place now oi'eu[)ied l)y N. (i. ('hapin,and 
across Boylston Street which was not then built, includ- 
ing all that has since been known as Urndley's Hill. 

The house, which stood on the site of the one now «k"- 
cupied by the family of the late William Bird, was built 
in 1750. It was designed to be the residence of the 
Rev. Cotton Brown, the second minister of Bnioklim*. 

Mr. Brown tv^as a brother of the mother of Peter C. 
Brooks of Boston. Another of his sisters was the second 
wife of Daniel Dana, who lived where the Bubli<- Library 
now stands. 

]\Ir. Brown was the successor of Rev. .lames Allen, and 
was ennrau'ed to marrv his daughter Marv, a verv lovely 
and beautiful yonng lady. 

Mr. Allen owned, bt'sides the house which Ik- occupied, 
(before mentioned) an old house which stood w.«rst) of 
the present Bird house, in what is now the garden r>f that 

place. 

It was occupied by John Hammond. After the d.-ath 
of Mr. Allen this house was taken down, and the solid 
oaken timbers being of enormous size and in excellent 
preservation, were used in building th.- new liouw f«»r 
the young couple. 

But they were destined never to occupy it. A singular 
fatalitv seemed to follow the family. 



212 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Mr. Allen died in 1747, his wife in 1748, their only son 
in 1749, and the daughter, the last of her family, in 1750. 

The young minister to whom she was engaged died in 
1751, at the ag3 of twenty-five, and the house which was 
to have been the parsonage, and had been the centre of 
so many bright hopes, passed into other hands. 

It became the property of Henry Sewall, a grandson 
of Chief Justice Sewall, of this town, but whether he 
ever occupied it or not we have no means of knowing. 
It was occupied for several years by Dea. Elisha Gard- 
ner of the first church. After Mr. Sewall's death it was 
inherited by Mrs. Walcott, another of the Sewalls. 

In the year 1796, the house was still the property of 
Mrs. Walcott, but before 1800 it was sold. 

Toward the close of the last century the house was 
purchased by Thomas Walley, a merchant of Boston, with 
ample wealth and cultivated tastes. The grounds west 
of the house were covered with a beautiful growth of 
chestnut and walnut trees. Back of the parsonage on 
the rising ground near the site of the house of M. P. Ken- 
nard, Mr. Walley had a summer-house built. The brook 
wound its way through the grounds uncurbed by walls, 
and the wild flowers of every season grew in native lux- 
uriance. The place was a delightful resort for the few 
children of the neighborhood. 

The house stood upon the same raised bank which is 
there at present, and had a broad piazza on two sides. 
On the Avest end the front room had a projecting alcove 
with two or three windows in it. Mrs. Walley was a 
French lady from Martinique, of Catholic faith. There 
was no Catholic church at that time nearer than Federal 
Street in Boston, and the large west room was fitted as a 
private chapel for the family according to the forms of the 
Catholic church. There Avas an agreement between the 



TIIK WAM.KY PLACE. 0|3 

parents that the sons shuuKl be t'chicatcd in tlie rt'li^ric,„« 
faitli of tlieir fatlier and the dauglitcrs in that of th.-ir 
mother. But before many years Mr. WaUey also ..n.l)nic.'«l 
the religion of liis chiUh-en. Of the two chihln-n who 
still survive one is a Catholic and the other an Kpis.-.,p:i- 
lian. 

Bishop Chevereux was a frinpicnt visitor ai ih.- imusc 
and the Oratory was his appropriate a})artm(>nt. 

There were several children in the family, and for the 
convenience of his own daughters and those of his neigh- 
bors Mr. Walley built a school-house on his own grounds, 
fronting on Cypress Street near the corner cf Boylston 
Street. 

This school was taught by Miss Stebbins f.»r many 
years. Several branches were tauglit here wln«'h were 
not then taught in the public s(li(»()ls. »'mbioi<].r\ :.n.l ^-nn- 
pler working included. 

The fine arts also received a due share of alienliou in 
the elaboration of certain melancholy })ictures, .snich as 
may occasionally be found in a country farm-house cham- 
ber, or perhaps even now stored away among tlie hunber 
of some Brookline attic. A church-front with a patli 
leading up to it, on either side of which stands a wliite 
monument surmounted by an urn and overlnmg by a 
very green, heavy, weeping willow. Two wretched fe- 
males in trailing dresses, stand one by each monument 
weeping, in identical attitudes. In families already 
broken by deatl\, pathos was addeil to the |)ainted scene 
by an inscription of the name and date of the 84ul event. 

In families still in the joy of a full circle the artist left 
a blank under '' Li Memory >[f'^ — and as the dismal re- 
minder hung upon the parlor walls, the thought must 
sometimes have intruded unbidden upon hours <.f plejw- 
ure, of whose name should stand first nn tl..- xNaitlni/ 



214 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLIXE. 

monument over wliicli the black^robecl females were ap- 
parently weeping in advance. 

It would seem as if the pathetic and the ridiculous could 
hardly ever be found in closer proximity than in these 
absurd pictures. 

One can only guess at the moods induced in the young 
artists by their laborious application to these tasks. A 
lady teacher of painting was hired, after several years, 
who brought a higher taste and better practice into the 
artistic culture of her pupils. Miss Stebbins was a good 
woman, of the severely pious order, and read her pupils 
moral lectures of amazing length and dryness. 

After several years Miss Stebbins went to Georgia 
where she taught school, first in Powelton and then in 
Mt. Zion. She finally removed to Washington, D. C, 
where she died several years ago at an advanced age. She 
was a teacher more than forty years. 

After Miss Stebbins' removal Miss Mary Downer con- 
tinued the girls' school for some time. 

The school-house was for some years occupied by a pre- 
paratory department, for the Classical School, before men- 
tioned, taught by Miss Louisa Reed. The very building 
in which so many young ladies of that period received 
their book-knowledge, worked their samplers, and painted 
their mourning pieces, is still in existence, and doing ser- 
vice as a hen-house on Dr. Shurtleff's place. 

After Mr. Walley removed to Boston the place was oc- 
cupied by Reuben Hunting, who purchased it. Mr. Hunt- 
ing was a butcher and he added a section to the large 
barn behind the house and there carried on his business 
for several years. 

He sold the fine trees which formed the grove in the 
westerly part of his grounds, and they were soon all cut 
down. The summer-house was bought by Captain Brad- 



WALNUT STRKKT. 2\ij 

ley, wlio tilready lia<l an (•inl»rv<j villa;^n«, .»n tli.- hill wliich 
he had bought of Mr. Walley, and havinjr m(,vrd it to 
the highest part of tlie hill he ad.lrd a little room to it 
and made a house of it. This was tlie last hahitatioii 
left on the hill after the sale and n-nioval \vhi«li t«H,k 
place there in the spring of 1S70. 

Mr. Hunting lived in the house ten y«;ii. ,,, *,,.,.. .,,„i 
sold it to Mr. Jabez Fisher. During his resi<len«-e there 
the large old barn and slaughter-h(»use building \\iin 
bought by Captain Bradley and this he add«Ml to the other 
adornments of his hill. This was thr building wliieh he 
surmounted with a steeph*, and which was known as 
" Bradley's meeting-house." 

Mr. Fisher's successor was the late Je?se Bird. 

After he had occu})ied the house a short time he had it 
torn down, and built the ])resent house upon tlu» siime 
site. The old timbers which had formed a j>art of the 
frame of the Allen house, which was so (»ld in IToO that 
it had to be taken down, and were used in building the 
house for Rev. Cotton Brown, had served over «)ne inni- 
dred years in the latter house. Th«i ohl mortises made 
by the Muddy River workmen of two hundred yeai*s ago, 
were laid bare to the light ; the beams were in good pres- 
ervation, and for aught we know are in existence yet. 
The fir trees in front, probably as old as tlie hou84% -luit 
never ornamental, were cut down and gave place to^he 
present graceful shade-trees now liigher than tlie house. 

The grounds were improved and the place soon be- 
came once more one of the pleasantest upon Walnut 
Street. 

THP: CLAKlv FAMILY AND IIOISK. 

The first ancestors of this old family traeeabie in 
Muddv River are James Clark and hi^ wife Klii.'.r. F.-.-. 



216 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

them in a direct line are descended the families of the 
late Deacon Joshua Clark, Caleb Clark, and Moses 
Jones. 

The Avill left by this ancient citizen of Muddy River is 
still in good preservation, and is chiefly interesting for 
bearing upon it the names of Governor Leverett, Simon 
Bradstreet, William Stoughton, and Major Thomas Clark, 
perhaps a brother of James. He was a prominent citizen 
in those days. John Sharp, who fell the next year, 1675, 
at Sudbury fight, w^as also one of the witnesses. 

James Clark had a son, Samuel, and there has ever 
since been a Samuel Clark in the tow'n from this ances- 
try. The first of this name was born in 1654. The pa- 
ternal estate lay on both sides of Cambridge road, now 
Harvard Street, the house being near the site of the one 
afterwards built by Stephen Sharp. 

There were also marsh lands joining the possessions of 
the Sewalls and Aspinwalls, as well as woodlands and 
pasture lands in other parts of the town. All the Clark 
property in the vicinity of Harvard Street eventually be- 
came the property of the Sharps. 

The first Samuel Clark was a wheelwright. He died 
in 1727, aged seventy-three years. This is probably the 
person of whom Judge Sewall speaks in his diary under 
date of March 12, 1684. " Watched, with Isaac Goose 
and Samuel Clark. Pleasant night." This was a time 
when the Indians were particularly troublesome, and 
probably the ivatching referred to was on their account. 

This Samuel Clark was the father of Samuel, John, and 
Mary. An old receipt of John's, given to Samuel, shows 
that their father was one of the Muddy River Company 
in the Canada Expedition in 1690. He was a near neigh- 
bor of the Robert Sharp who went forth in that Expedi- 
tion and perished in the wilderness. Samuel Clark it 
would seem returned. 



SAMIKL CLARK. ^17 

The receipt retuls as f(.ll..\v^ : — 

Mny }/e 29. 1 7.1M. 

Received of my brotluT Saimwl Clark cf l.n..»klin.« tlu- full 
and just sum of tlire pound six shiljiu^rs an,! (.jula jM-nc* U-in^ 
the full of what came or fell to me of the \vri;;ht that heft-Il uh 
by the coloy (colony) hy varty (virtue) of our father's ^'oinj; in 
the exspodition to canady i the year KVJO i say I{ce.ivrd hy im- 

•loIlN Cl.VWK. 

This second Samuel Clark was a carprntrr, and hiiilt 
the first ineeting-hoiise in lirookline. ]{>• was the lirst 
person who was published in the ehureh. He was a dea- 
con of the church and was very highly respeeted in Hrook- 
line. He lived to the age of eighty-one years. Di.d in 
176G. 

The Clark house on Walnut Street at th« rut-r nf 

Chestnut, was built by this Deacon Chirk, lie was mar- 
ried the year after the chiuvh was first gath«'r»Ml in Bn)ok- 
line, and no doubt built his house about that time, as it is 
known to have been standing and occupied by him a few 
years later, and is therefore jirobably not far from one 
hundred and fifty years old. Directly behind it,st«MMl thr 
house used for a garrison-house. This was probably u.st'd 
as a dwelling-house afterward, as in an indi-ntm-e made to 
Nehemiah Davis in 17f>.'), Deacon Clark reserves to him- 
self the use and profit of 'vthe two houses," but atrows 
Davis the '^ privilidge of keeping sauce in the cellar of the 
new house yearly." 

His son Samuel, wlio died at the age of thirty-nine, six 
years before his father, left a widow who married a Nich- 
ols and went to Ward, Mass., to reside. There was a 
Samuel in this family, the fourth of the name, a.s the 
widow writes to her son of that name, who it s«'ems was 
living in Pn-ookline, under date of November 17. 177H. 

15 



218 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

(probably), the date is partly obliterated. We copy it 
for its quaintness, and the bit of family history it con- 
tains. 

" Loving Child, these lines come from your affectionate 
mother, almost overwhelmed In trouble, by a sore and awful, yet 
just dispensation of Providence. It has pleased God to take from 
ous our Sun Joshua by a sudden and suprisen Death, on the 
13th of this Instent as he was a riden in the cart suposed tofaul 
out and the wheal run over him, and within about half a nouer 
Expired, and has left us to mourn the absence of his delitesum 
courapeny, but believing that God who orders all things knows 
what is best would therefore Desire to acquiesce in his WilL 

" I would therefore as a mother in duty to a child remind you 
the sartainty of Death, and the unsartenty of the time when, 
and that now in time we may Be prepared for Death, and that 
we may have an Intrest in him that has tuck a way the sting of 
death which is sin. 

'' So I Remain Your Dutifull Parent till Death. 

Deborah Nickels." 

The Joshua whose death is here recorded was no dcubt 
a child of the second marriage, and must have been less 
than ten years of age, if the date is correct. 

The Samuel to whom this letter Avas written, became, 
like his grandfather, a deacon of the church. He mar- 
ried Mary, daughter of Robert Sharp, 4th. He lived 
to be sixty-one years of age and died in 1814, leaving 
his son Caleb possessor of the homestead. 

The fifth Samuel, son of the deacon last mentioned, 
was born in 1782, and was a graduate of Harvard Uni- 
versity in 1805. He taught in Brookline during his 
college vacations, in the old brick school-house, of which 
an account will be given hereafter. He Avas ordained as 
a Unitarian minister in Burlington, Vt., in 1810, but 



WALNUT STRKKT (^i:.Mi:n;[:v. -Jll' 

re8i<rn(Ml in consequence of ill-lieallli, and died in that 
town in 1827, aged forty-five years. 

Another son of Deacon Samuel Clark, Avas the hite 
Deacon Joshua C. Clark of Warren Street in this town, 
a man who was universally beloved through a long an<l 
useful life. 

An incident is related of the late Deacon Claik in liis 
youth, which shows the unselfish disposition wliieh char- 
acterized him through life. The information did not 
come from his own family. When he was seventeen 
years of age. Dr. Pierce, his minister, then in the prim*- 
of life, was stricken down with rheumatic fever which 
rendered him perfectly helpless. For six weeks the 
young man w^ent of his own accord, with cheerful devo- 
tion, three or four times every day, to assist in turning 
the helpless sufferer. Besides this he rendered (►thcr 
efficient service. The same spirit was manifested through- 
out his long and useful life. He literally obeyed the 
Apostolic injunction, " Do good as ye have opportunity *' 
— and he did it without ostentation, or hope of re- 
ward. 

Deacon Joshua C. Clark, died July 22. 1S<U, age.l 
eighty years. 

An infant born in the old Walnut Street house, in the 
spring of 1878, child of William and Helen (Clark) 
C'utler, is the sixth generation of one family, born within 
its walls. 

WALNUT STREET CEMETERY. 

On the 2Gtli of ?^Iarch, 1700, ^- it was voted that there 
should be a burying-place on the s(juth side of the hill, 
on ;Mr. Cotton's farm, between the two roads, if it can 
be obtained." 

This was the southerly slope of the hill near the head 



220 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLIXE. 

of Cypress Place. But it was not purcliased, for some 
reason now unknown, and the matter lay over for about 
eleven years.* In December, 1713, it was " voted that 
Mr. Samuel Sewall, Jr., and Peter Boylston should pro- 
cure a pall, or ' burying cloth ' at the town's charge," 
and six pounds were appropriated in addition to the 
usual annual appropriation, *' to cover the charge of said 
cloth." 

In April, 1717, half an acre of the ground now com- 
prised in Walnut Street Cemetery was purchased of 
Samuel Clark, the carpenter who built the first meeting- 
house, and was afterward deacon of the church. This 
was all the ground thus appropriated for more than a 
hundred and thirty years. 

The entrance, by a wooden gate, was in the centre, 
just at that part of the wall where the monument of Dr. 
Pierce stands. The driveway went in but a short dis- 
tance and turned to the left, ending between the two 
ranges of tombs. A procession could not enter, because 
there was no room for the carriages to turn around. 

Rows of gravestones, on the right, of dark slate, em- 
bellished with the skull and cross-bones, came close up 
to the narrow driveway. These bore the names of whole 
families now extinct among us. On the hill near Chest- 
nut Street, were square, red, brick tombs, two or three 
feet high, with a slate slab on the top of each. In the 
wall next the street, the backs of tombs were built up 
hig^h and nariow, above the level of the rest of the wall. 
Rank grass, white-weed, and blackberry vines, overran 
the ground, and everything conspired to give the place 
that neglected look that characterized country cemeteries 
in former times. 

* It is somewhat remarkable, how the experience and practice of the fore- 
fathers, in such matters, seems to have descended to the present generation. 



WALNUT STRKKT (KMKTI KY. 2 21 

It would seem as if the spirit of Puritanism, admim))!*' 
as it was in many respects, deemed it a virtue to invest 
death with all the external horrors that efiuld be ^'athcrrd 
about it. No wonder that superstition was rib-. TIh' 
hearse, a shabby old vehicle, after beinjr Uc.pt in tin* 
Croft barn for years, was removed to the corner slicd of 
the row back of the old stone school-house, where the 
very sight of its black doors witli their long iron liinges 
and heavy padlock, struck a chill to tlie hearts of cljil- 
dren at their play. 

Within the cemetery, many of the old graso wne 
sunken, and the stones leaning. 

The ground beyond the range of tombs whicli front 
northward, a narrow strip compared witli what is now 
inclosed, was the *' Potter's field," or burying jilace for 
the slaves. There were few stones, but one bore the 
name of " Dinah," an old slave in the Heath family, and 
another the name of " Ben Boston," another slave of a 
still more ancient Heath. 

^lore tluxn one Revolutionary hero wh(» died in tlie 
lirookline barracks found his last resting-i)lace in Brook- 
line Cemetery. Lieutenant Abell of Rehoboth was one ; 
and he and two soldiers of a Connecticut company, jirob- 
ably the same that was cpuirtered in Mr. Benjamin 
Davis's house, had their resting places marked by W)ne8. 
The two latter remain, and have been decorated, on re- 
cent Memorial Days, as has been also the tomb of Ca})- 
tain Isaac Gardner and General (rardner. 

It will be rLMuembi'red by th(jse fjimiliar with tlu^ early 
history of Massachusetts, that the widow of Rev. .Ii)hn 
Cotton, the first minister of Boston, :in.l mother of Sea- 
born Cotton, born on the voyage, as his nunie implies, — 
afterwards married Richard Mather. After his death,— 
being a widow for the third time, and Tii..iiias and Row- 



222 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

land Cotton, one, if not both, being residents in Brook- 
line, she came here, took the small-pox, of which she 
died, and was buried in Brookline Cemetery, where her 
gravestone is still to be seen.* 

Here, too, lies buried the first wife of George B. Emer- 
son, a sister of the lamented Joseph S. Buckminster, and 
daughter of Dr. Buckminster of Portsmouth. She was 
a person of lovely character and accomplishments, worthy 
of tlie distinguished family to which she belonged. 

Many of the early inhabitants of Brookline were no 
doubt buried in the old Roxbury cemetery on " the 
Neck," as they worshipped in the Eliot Church, and 
that was the nearest burying-place. But there were 
graves enough to fill the Brookline cemetery before the 
present century began, and for several years previous to 
1840, some of the ground had been used for the same 
purpo'se, over and over again. About this time, Dr. 
Shurtleif , Mr. Philbrick, and others who were interested 
in public improvements, saw the necessity of enlarging 
the area of the ground, a matter attended with almost 
as much difficulty then as the purchase of a new ceme- 
tery lot recently. But after some negotiation the im- 
provement was begun, though hotly contested by many 
substantial citizens. 

The result was, that sometime during the je^v 1840, 
the town purchased another half acre, of the Clark heirs. 
This lay chiefly on the south side. 

When the grading of the ground was in progress, a 
skeleton was exhumed on the Clark land, outside the old 
boundary of the cemetery. It might not have attracted 
any special attention, but for the fact that there were 

* Dr. N. B. Shurtleff in his History of Boston, says there is a stone erected 
to the memory of this lady in the King's Chapel Cemetery. There is something 
probably to be explained with reference to this circumstance. 



KXLAKGKMKNT OF THE CEMpyiKRV. 228 

good reasons for believing the bones to be those of an 
Indian, and one of the thigh bones liad been broken, but 
never reset. The fractured parts liad over-hipped and 
grown togetlier in tliat way, so that th<3 poor vietini must 
have found his mended leg inconveniently shoi-t. 'The 
bones were interlaced with roots of some slirub which 
drew its nourishment from them. 

If the cattle l)rowsed upon the shrub, and men ate the 
cattle, a query might be raised as to who owns a future 
interest in " poor Indian," nearly as interesting as the 
nuich discussed question, " Who ate Roger Williams ? " 

During the progress of the improvements, many old 
gravestones were dislodged and removed, some being 
thrown in to fill up the roadway which was being con- 
structed. A stone, bearing the name of one of the 
earliest Winchesters, — among the first settlers of the 
town, — was carried to Lyceum Hall and there set up, 
but withont questioning the taste or the motives of the 
individual Avho thus distinguished himself, a member of 
the Board of Selectmen remanded it back to the ceme- 
tery forthwith.* 

The new ground, being some of it very low, was raised, 
graded, drained, and fenced. The gateway was removed 
to its present location and the carriage road through the 
centre, as a matter of necessity, laid out, irrespective of 
ancient graves. After a great deal of effort on the part 
of Dr. Shurtleff, the consent of the owners was obtained, 
and the hideous brick tombs, resembling old chinniev- 
tops, which had so long disfigured the highest part of the 
hill, were leveled, shade trees set out, and the place di- 
vested of much of its former repulsiveness. 

Within its limited area, lie the honored dead of most 
of the old families of the place, and probably few live 

* Deacon Thomas Griggs. 



224 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

here who have not at some time shed the tears of sore 
bereavement or keenest sympathy, withm its shaded in- 
closLire. Here the patriot dead of three wars have been 
brought, folded under the flag for which they fought, to 
slumber in the soil for whose freedom they died. 

Who among us has not followed thither some fair-haired 
and beautiful child, out of whose sunny eyes the light has 
been quenched forever ? Or the friend, of youth or mid- 
dle age, with whom we took sweet counsel, and whose 
vanished presence has left an aching void which no other 
can ever fill ? And through that narrow gateway we 
have followed the slow-grinding wheels, which were bear- 
ing from our sight, dear aged faces, out of which death 
had smoothed the furrows of care and pain, and whose 
tired hands, life's work being done, were folded, forever 
at rest. 

We cannot be too grateful for the happy faith which 
will not allow us to believe, that the beloved ones we have 
seen laid away, are slumbering there in unconscious 
gloom ; or floating as formless ether in some vague un- 
known, waiting for a day when, perhaps millions of years 
hence, they shall receive back their worn-out, wasted 
bodies. We cannot believe that those bodies which are 
returned to their original elements, and re-incorporated 
in a thousand forms of animal and vegetable life, will be 
the resources to which the Creator must turn, that the 
mortal may be clothed with immortality. We think the 
Scriptures which seem to warrant this belief, will admit 
of quite another interpretation. 

Rather do we believe with Paul, that " there is a natu- 
ral body and there is a spiritual body," not " there ivill 
he, but there 2S," and in that spiritual body we hope to 
to meet our lost ones, and know and love them again. 



OLD SCHOOL-HOUSES. 225 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE OLD BRICK SCIIOOL-IIOUSK. MASTKR ADAMS. TIIK 

STONE SCHOOL-HOUSE. THE FIRST CHURCH. REV. .MIt. 

ALLEN. REV. MR. JACKSON. 

\ LTHOUGH the old stone scliool-liouse, Hear the 
■^-^ Unitarian Church, is the next buikhng of any spe- 
cial interest on Walnut Street, there are reasons whicli 
will be apparent as we proceed, why the history of the 
old brick school-house should stand first recorded. From 
the earliest records, and still earlier traditions of the 
town, it appears that the principal school was always 
kept until quite modern times at the centre of the town. 
Not that this location of church and scliool-house was 
merely the geographical centre, for it was also the centre 
of population until after 1820. 

As early as 1G86, the people of the town, preferring to 
manage their own school affairs, instead of having tlieni 
controlled by men in Boston, petitioned to be allowed to 
direct and maintain these things themselves. In Decem- 
ber of tluit year, it .was ordered " that henceforth tlie said 
Hamlet be free from Town rates to Boston, they raising 
a school-house, and maintaining an able reading and writ- 
ing master." The promptness with which they acted 
upon the matter, shows that they were glad to get any 
part of the management of their local interests into tlieir 
own hands. They called a meeting of the inliid)itants, 
(^it is recorded as a full meeting), and vott^d twelve 



226 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

pounds per annum, to pay the school-master and that if 
more be necessary to defray expenses, a tax '' be laid 
equally upon the scholars' heads, save any persons that 
are poor, be abated, the whole or in part." Signed, 
Thomas Boylston. 

This is the first town clerk's record, as such, made in 
the town, though the separation had not then been de- 
manded, from Boston. Many of the old inhabitants, how- 
ever, Avere as anxious to get out of Boston then, as some 
of the modern ones are to get in. Dr. Thomas Boylston 
w^as " directed to buy a book, and enter all the proceed- 
ings of the settlement therein from time to time." But 
he died before the vote could be carried into effect, and 
the record was made in the book by " Josiah Winchester, 
Clerk." 

This first school-house built by the people of the town, 
unaided by Boston, stood on the hill, on the triangular 
piece of ground where Warren and Walnut Streets di- 
verge, near the church. It was probably a small wooden 
school-house, but it must have served for a hundred years 
or more. An ancient bill presented to the Selectmen for 
repairs on this building is a curiosity. It reads as fol- 
lows : — 

Decemher ye 6. 1758. 

to work don at the Skid hous 
to sliinggeHng the riif and finding 15 sliingels, and 
nales and Lime to pint it, 1.1.0 

to Laying the harth and finding 60ty bricks and 
whehng 12 whelborrers of Dnrt to Ras it. 2.00 

Lathing and plastern Severl plases 0.1.0 

MOSKS ScoTT 4.00 

We do not find Mr. Scott's arithmetic or spelling to 
indicate that he ever spent much time in the " Skul 
hous," except in the exercise of his calling as carpenter. 



Till-: OLD BRICK SCHOOL-HOUSE. '2'2i 

The endorsement of the Selectmen, on tlie back of the 
bill, orders the Town Treasurer, Jona Wincliester, to ])ay 
liim ten shillings Jlnd eight pence, for his work. Anotlicr 
old bill, presented by a female teacher, wlio pr(il)ably 
tauo-ht in School Street affords a similar anomaly. 

'• Tlie Town of Ih-ookline Depttor to Mary lioweii for Keep- 
ing School fore months from the seventh of June 17G(), at 
twenty six sliillings and Eaight pence per month." >'). G. 8 

On which the endorsement reads : — 

"Allowed twenty four shillings pr. montli In Consideration 
of her liaveing a great number of Schollers & tliere being liut 
one school Kept." 

We have known of instances where an increase of the 
number of scholars did not secure a corresponding in- 
crease of salary, but hope the above is the onl}' instance 
on record of an abatement being made for a similar rea- 
son. Probably, however, the deficiency was made up by 
a tax on the pupils. 

The next school-house of which we hear, on tliis spot, 
was of brick, and was built in 1793. This building was 
the Alma Mater of many, if not most of our present 
middle aged and elderly towns-people. It was a square, 
hip-roofed building, fronting eastward, without blinds, 
l)orch, or shed, and here school was kept, alway«^)by a 
male teacher, from April till November. Then it was 
closed, and the winter school for many years was kept by 
'' the master," in the School Street school-house. Another 
school was also kept during the same time, in a small 
wooden school-house on Heath Street near tlie junction of 
Warren Street. 

There were various teachers employed, but one among 
them seems to have made his mark (in more senses than 
one), and stamped his memory indelibly upon his pu])ils 



228 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OK BKOOKLINE. 

and the old brick vschool-house. This was Master Isaac 
Adams, who came to Brookline about the year 1815 or 
1816. Nothing indicates the growth of a people in intel- 
lect and refinement more than the condition of their 
schools. The history of Master Adams and his methods, 
is a chapter which will shed much light on the progress 
of Brookline during the last forty years. 

Our knowledge of him has been gathered from verbal 
testimony, from both male and female residents of this 
town who were his former pupils. The accounts given 
are wonderfully uniform. There were usually from thirty 
to forty pupils, of all ages from four to sixteen or eighteen, 
and of both sexes. No one seems to retain a very clear 
idea of the studies pursued or of anything interesting in 
the teaching. Of the discipline, however, there is a most 
vivid recollection. Whether whipping was laid down in 
the programme as a part of the master's necessary duty 
does not appear, but it seems to have been in accordance 
with the expectations of the parents and children, that it 
should form a part of every day's routine, as much as the 
lesson from " Murray's Grammar " or the spelling-book. 
School was opened with a long, extemporaneous prayer, 
by the master. During this prayer, nothing escaped his 
vigilant ears, eyes, and nose, and the slightest sound or 
trick was traced at once to the right source. By com- 
mon consent, the catechism of public opinion would have 
made answer to the question, '' What is the chief end of 
hoys? " '' To be whipped." At all events Master Adams 
seems to have acted upon the theory of the old school- 
master of whom we read, that " a boy cannot be whipped 
amiss, because if he has not just done a piece of mischief 
he is just going to.^^ Therefore, after prayers, the next 
proceeding generally was to punish somebody for some- 
thing either real or imaginar}^ 



MASTER ISAAC ADAMS. 229 

The chief weapon used was called a " clapper," and 
was made of leather ; a circular piece about three quar- 
ters of an inch thick and five or six inches in diameter, 
attached to a stout leather handle some two feet long. 
In the centre of the circular piece was a round hole. 
Tlie handle was slightly flexible. This barbarous instru- 
ment was kept at the master's boarding-place, and the 
first culprit on whom it was to be used in the morning 
was sent to bring it, chewing the cud of bitter reflection, 
or foreboding, by the way. The clapper was eminently 
adapted for spanking^ to which use it was usually applied. 
There are gentlemen now living in town who have 
smarted under the infliction scores of times without shed- 
ding a tear, and others more sensitive and perhaps less 
'' stuffy," who roared lustily but were none the better 
able to escape a similar fate next day. For minor of- 
fenses, like a whisper or an involuntary gig<i,'le, it was 
common for the master to send out for a branch of a sap- 
ling (the woods were near), about four feet long. From 
this lie would trim a part of the twigs and leaves, split 
the thick end of it far enough to allow the poor little of- 
f(Mider"s nose to be inserted in the crack, and in this plight 
he Avould be obliged to stand as a spectacle before the 
school. For girls, the split stick was often applied to the 
ear. Another of his unique inventions was the '' itnlpod,'' 
perhaps suggested by the Latin tripod., — a stool with 
only one leg and that in the middle. On this the oft'en- 
der was seated where she must balance herself with 
scrupulous nicety, straining every muscle and nerve to 
maintain the perpendicular, lest gravitation obtain the 
mastery, and the performer come to grief in the manner 
of the inexperienced practitioner on the modern veloci- 
pede. There were two of these unipods, one being trian- 
gular, with the lejx at one corner. 



230 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BEOOKLINE. 

A delicate young girl, wlio had been a gentle and docile 
pupil all her life, began to show peculiarities of manner 
and disposition while at this school, so different from her 
former appearance and habits, as to attract the notice of 
the master, who to take the " oddity," or j^erversity as he 
considered it, out of her, frequently kept her sitting for 
hours on one of these instruments of torture. The pecu- 
liarities however were only the indications of incipient in- 
sanity, which soon was broadly developed, and of which 
she died at the age of twenty-one. 

But the eider pupils alone were not the only victims of 
this man's tyrannical discipline. The front row of desks 
had a long, low seat in front, and on this sat a row of little 
ones from four to six years of age. The only break in 
the monotony of their long, dull session, was in being 
called up once in the forenoon, and once in the afternoon, 
and naming the letters of the alphabet througli from A 
to Z. The rest of the time they were expected to " sit 
up straight, and keep still." 

Now " to sit up straight and keep still," is Avhat no 
bright, healthy child was ever yet able to do, for even one 
hour, and the parent or teacher who requires it, is either 
a tvrant, or destitute of common sense. Rampant animal 
life will squirm, and latent fun will bubble out in an ill- 
suppressed giggle. If it does not come to hair pulling 
and fisticuffs, then the children are little short of angels, 
and fit to — '^ with the angels stand." But the poor in- 
fant class in Master Adams' school was not composed of 
angels ; only a row of very human babies, most of whom 
should have been out frolicking on the grass or under the 
trees with somebody to take care of them and preserve 
the peace. It happened upon an evil day that the master 
seized upon one of these little victims and taking him out 
upon the platform laid him face downwards upon the 



*' DISCIPLINK." -231 

floor, — iinother and another were laid beside him, then 
others piled upon them, till he had made a pyramid of 
them with the last and perhaps greatest rogue on the 
top. Then seizing the clapper he proceeded to ai)plv 
it vigorously to the topmost child of the heap, while 
groans, and cries, and lamentations, in every key, proceeded 
from the struggling pile.* Does any reader close the 
book in disgust, and say, "• Of course this ended the man's 
career in Brookline ? " Not at all by any means. The 
lialf is not told, — nor shall we tell it. It would not be 
believed. (Jne instance more of his dealings witli the 
little ones must suffice. 

A little boy, between four and five years old, wlio 
walked nearly a mile to the school in the care of his two 
sisters a little older, coming in tlie early morning and stav- 
ing till nearly night, was guilty of the gross misdemea- 
nor of falling asleep in school one hot summer after- 
noon. The sharp-eyed master perceived it. It was a 
case for discipline. Such a palpable violation of tlie rules 
of propriety involved a severe penalty. Ste})})ing liglitly 
to the little sleeper, with his handkerdiief he tied th«^ 
little feet together to a stout umbrella, wliicli he gave 
to a large school-mate in the row behind, to hold. Then 
going back to his chair, lie stamped upon the floor, and in 
a stentorian tone, called out, *' Daniel I come here I;^, The 
l)()()r child sprang up, and of course fell upon his face, 
crying bitterly. The little sister cried too, and was de- 
ridinl antl disgraced by the master, before the school, for 
her weakness. 

If any one thinks this is too much to believe, let him 
read George jNIacDonald's book, " Alec Forbes," and in 

* Had there been less elasticity in these little martyrs, our town nii^'ht 
have been minus its present worthy Treasurer, as well as sundry other go(xi 
citizens. 



232 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKUNK. 

the Scotch school-master, Malison, lie will think Master 
Adams sat for his portrait. Such discipline and such a 
state of heart and mind as could produce it, were extreme 
instances of the natural outgrowth of the New England 
Calvinism and asceticism of the two preceding cen- 
turies. 

Children were not allowed to complain at home, and 
often if it was found that they had been punished at school, 
they were punished at home also. 

The present public opinion which Avill scarcely tolerate 
the moderate punishment of a child for even the most out- 
rageous conduct, is but a vibration of the pendulum to the 
opposite extreme, and is as weak and foolish as the for- 
mer practices were cruel and unjust. 

After teaching here for seven years. Master Adams 
left town and taught elsewhere for a while, but was hired 
back again, returned, and taught here more than thirteen 
years longer. There was another side, however, to his 
character, and the old master was not wholly a bar- 
barian. 

Master Adams was not, as might be supposed from 
accounts of his school government, a man of no principle. 
On the contrary, he was a religious man, who made 
long prayers ; but his religion savored of the law rather 
than the Gospel, and neither his principles nor his feel- 
ings prevented the skillful aiming of his ruler at his 
pupils' heads, or the practice of any of the methods of 
punishment already recorded. 

Yet all this severity failed of producing order, or com- 
manding the respect which a teacher should have from 
his pupils. There was no end of devices for circumvent- 
ing his plans, and setting at naught his authority, al- 
though he was feared and hated. 

Master Adams was comparatively young, when lie 



MASTER ISAAC ADAMS. 233 

came to Brookline, and single. He eontinued to live 
single till past middle life, Avlien he mjirried a young lady 
of Portsmouth, iNliss Martha Washington Hill. Miss 
Hill was a very lovely girl, with a voice of such unusual 
melody, that all who heard her were fascinated. The 
old schoolmaster's devotion to his young wife was per- 
fectly wonderful, but we have not heard that the de- 
velopment of his affections extended to the school-room 
and its inmates. 

A year or so of wedded life was all that was accorded 
to the singularly mated couple, and then the tie was 
broken by death, and the devoted husband became the 
distracted widower. Mrs. Adams was buried in Walnut 
Street Cemetery, and night after night the half frantic 
man la}^ moaning upon her grave. He was like one be- 
side himself. He planned an anagram of his wife's name, 
Martha Washington, and actually had it incorporated 
into his own name by act of legislature, on this wise : 
'•• Isaac Mahtra Wanshongtri Adams." 

It seems marvelous that a man capable of such a pas- 
sionate and devoted attachment, could also have been 
capable of such cruelties as he practiced in his school. 
After a while he gave up teaching the public school, and 
went to Jamaica Plain, where he taught a school for 
young ladies for some little time, but was barely toler- 
ated. From thence he went to Newport, R. I., and soon 
after died. At his own request, his body was brought to 
Brookline, and buried beside the young wife whom he 
had so long mourned. His name and epitaph are to be 
seen by any of his former pupils who may desire to visit 
his grave. Under the name and the dates on one of 
the stones are the words, — 

" THIS LIFE 'S A DKEAM." 
16 



234 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

On the other, — 

"we part to meet again." 

" Requiescat in jyace^"" Master Adams I We trust thou 
hast found the Great Teacher more lenient with thee, 
than thou wert to his little ones. ^ 

After Master Adams' removal from Brookline, or 
during the interval in which he was absent, the winter 
school was taught one season, if not more, by Rev. 
Thomas Worcester, then a young man. His cousin. 
Oilman Worcester, was for several winters a teacher in 
Heath Street School. His brother David also taught in 
the brick school-house. 

A greater contrast in men or methods could scarcely 
be found than that between Master Adams and the Wor- 
cesters. Oentle firmness, and a sympathetic regard for 
childhood and youth, were the characteristics of their 
teaching. 

The brick school-house was not an important building 
in town merely for its service in school uses, but it was 
also used for town meetings, from the time it was built, 
as long as it remained standing. It was at the brick 
school-house that the people of the town met to form a 
procession, on the occasion of the funeral services in 
honor of Oeorge Washington. From thence they marched 
to the church, then standing in what is now the garden 
of the parsonage, and listened to the eulogy delivered by 
Dr. Pierce. 

After the close of the second war with England, the 
town began to grow more rapidly. Several gentlemen 
came here and built fine houses, and there was a general 
increase of prosperity. The subject of building a town- 
house began to be discussed, but met with considerable 
opposition from old citizens, who thought the school- 
house had been good enough for them and their fathers. 



ORIGIN OF THE OLD STONE SCHOOL-HOUSE. 2'Zr> 

and ought to suffice for the coming gencnition. liow- 
ever, the more enterprising carried their point at hist, so 
far as to get a vote to buikl a tmvn-liouse. The next 
thing to be considered was the phice and the matcriah 
The bmtliers, John and Lewis Tappan, and Mr. J.osei)h 
Sewall, had built stone houses, and it was proposed to 
buikl a stone town-house. This was opposed, of course, 
as unnecessary extravagance, by the men who thought 
the okl school-house was good enough. But once more 
enterprise triumphed, and the building was decided upon, 
as well as the location. This was the origin of the build- 
ing known as the old stone school-house, still standing 
next the Unitarian Church. 

The contract for building it was let out to mechanics 
from Roxbury ; but the work is said to have been badly 
done. The building was completed in 1824, and dedi- 
cated with appropriate ceremonies, on the first day of 
January, 1825. 

The lower room was fitted for a school-room, and the 
old brick school-house was taken down the same year. 
On the spot where the building stood, at the site of the 
door, an elm tree was planted by Mr. Ebenezer Heath, 
and it still marks the spot. The old plan of keeping 
the school a part of the year in that neighborhood, and 
changing to School Street in winter, continued Jbr a 
while longer, but the increase of population soon made 
it necessary to have a school the year round in that part 
of the town. 

For several years the town hall, on the second floor 
of the building, was a popular place for singing schools, 
political meetings, and Lyceum lectures. About the year 
18o2, ^Ir. Isaac Thayer, who had rushed like a comet 
into the quiet atmosphere of Brookline, and left his trail 
along the horizon for some time after his dei)arture. 



236 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

started the idea of a series of Lyceum lectures. A com- 
pany was organized as the Brookline Lyceum Society, 
and for several winters the hall was filled with the elite 
of the town on these occasions. 

On alternate weeks a debate was held instead of a 
lecture. A course of lectures on Phrenology, the first 
season, created much discussion and awakened great 
interest. An impulse was given to intellectual growth 
by the Lyceum lectures, which was felt throughout the 
town. Quiet farmers who scarcely read anything before 
but the Bible and the Almanac, were roused into new 
mental life. A premium of ten dollars was offered by 
the Lj^ceum Society to the person who should remember 
and be able to repeat the most of any lecture heard. 
A daughter of Deacon Joshua C. Clark was the success- 
ful competitor. 

The first public High School in Brookline was opened 
in this building in May, 1843, under Mr. Benjamin H. 
Rhoades, a graduate of Brown University, now librarian 
of Redwood Library, Newport, R. I. 

His assistant teacher, James Pierce, a young man of 
great promise and much beloved, though a native of Dor- 
chester, was related to Brookline families, and well iden- 
tified with its interests. He was preparing to enter the 
Unitarian ministry, when his health failed, and a trip to 
Europe was advised. On the return voyage he died, 
and was buried in the sea. Manj^ hearts sincerely 
mourned his loss, and still tenderly cherish his memory. 

Mr. Rhoades was succeeded by Hezekiah Shailer, a 
brother of Rev. W. H. Shailer, who was then minister 
of the Baptist Church in this town. He was called a 
good disciplinarian, as those Avho experienced the shak- 
ings which he gave in a quiet way, after school, were 
usually reduced to submission, as effectually as if they 



THE FIRST CHURCH. 237 

had been experimented upon with the " cLipper " of his 
ancient predecessor. 

Mr. Shailer was succeeded b}^ Professor William P. 
Atkinson, now of Cambridge, who tauglit for a year or 
two. Two others succeeded Professor Atkinson for a 
shoi t time each ; and then Mr. Hoar, the present teacher 
of the High School, received the appointment in April, 
1854, which he has ever since kept. 

After the school was removed to its present location, 
the old stone building continued in use for primary- 
schools, until sold by the town a few years since, when 
it became private property. 

THE FIRST CHURCH. 

The act of the Assembly and Council, by wliirli lirook- 
line was incorporated as a separate town in 1705, con- 
tained a clause which enjoined the building of a meeting- 
house and the settling of '^ an able Orthodox minister " 
within three years. 

But the inhabitants were too few and their means too 
limited, to enable them to comply with the injunction, 
and for nine years longer they continued to worship at 
Roxbury. On the 2d of March, 1713, it was 

Voted, " that three men be chosen and appointed to suA-ey 
the limits of this town, and to find the centre or middle thereof, 
and to enquire where a convenient place may be procured where- 
on to build a meeting-house as near the centre of said town as 
may be." 

looted, " that Samuel Aspinwall, John Druce, and Peter 
Boylston, be appointed a committee to manage the affair relat- 
ing to the meeting-house aforesaid." 

There were several places proposed, and a Committee 
of the General Court was called to visit the places. 



238 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The record of the next Town Meeting contains the fol- 
lowing : — 

December 2, 1713. At this meeting Mr. Caleb Gardner, Jr., 
did offer and bequeath, ratify and confirm unto the town of 
Brookline a piece of land nigh to his Dwelling House, lying 
westward therefrom on the left-hand of the roadway leading to 
Roxbury, whereon to build a Meeting House for the Public 
Worship of God." 

Voted, " that Lieut. Thomas Gardner, Lieut. Samuel As- 
pinwall, Mr. Joseph White, Mr. Thomas Steadman and John 
Seaver, be a committee to treat with Mr. Caleb Gardner, 
above said, about the bounds of said piece of land, and to desire 
of him a legal conveyance and confirmation thereof to said 
town." 

Voted, " that the Meeting House aforesaid should be of the 
same dimensions with the Meeting House in the southwest part 
of Roxbury." 

Voted, " that Lieut. Thomas Gardner, Lieut. Samuel Aspin- 
wall, Mr. Erosamond Drew, Mr. Thomas Steadman and Mr. 
John Seaver, be a committee to manage the concern, or affair 
of buildino; the above said Meetino- House." 

The Committee of the General Court decided upon the 
site above mentioned, and there seems to have been no 
further opposition. 

Mr. Caleb Gardner lived in a house directly opposite 
what is now the Cemetery, but it must be remembered 
that the Cemetery had not then been bought or its loca- 
tion decided upon. Mr. John Hammond's old house was 
standing just about where the entrance to Mr. Kennard's 
place now is, and Mr. Gardner's between that and the 
present parsonage. 

From Mr. Gardner's, to the house now occupied by INIr. 
Chapin, there w^as no building except the old school-house 
in ^' the fork of the roads." 



THE FIKST MEETING-IIOUSK. 239 

All was woods on both sides of the way, and neither 
Cypress Street nor Boylston Street were thought of. 
The exact spot given by Mr. Gardner was that now cov- 
ered by the stable west of the parsonage, and a small 
l)iece of the garden of the latter place. Mr. Samuel 
Clark, as has been previously stated, was tlic buildci-. 
The frame was raised November 10, 1714. 'llie young 
carpenter and another youth, Mr. Isaac (Gardner, when 
the frame was raised, played at leap-frog on the ridgepole. 
Thev lived to be, the one eio:htv-one years of aj^e, and 
the other eighty-three, and each came to the same place 
of worship in his old age supported by two canes or 
crutches. The meeting-house was forty-four feet long 
and thirty-five feet wide. It originally contained but 
fourteen pews, and several long benches. There Avas a 
gallery round three sides, and probably long benches 
therein for the children, who in those days never sat with 
their parents. Afterward fourteen more pews were 
added on the floor and four in the gallery. There was 
no steeple to this house till the town voted in September, 
1771, to build one, and accepted thankfully the bell which 
WHS. presented by Nicholas Boylston, Esq. The pulpit 
Avas of oak, and upon it was kept an hour-glass for meas- 
uring the time. A clock was a luxury not yet aspired to 
by the fathers of the town. O 

The building stood with the side to the roatl, entrances 
at each end, and a door in the centre of the front. The 
steeple Avas at the west end. The bell presented by ]\Ir. 
Ijoylston was a very fine toned one, but was cracked in 
1803, much to the regret of the people. The pulpit was 
overhung by an immense sounding-board, whieli threat- 
ened the minister like a large extinguisher. 

The people were arranged by a pcu'son ai)pointed in 
Town Meeting for that purpose, according to dignity, age, 
standing, etc. 



240 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The cliurch was gathered the 26th of October, 1717, by 
Rev. Mr. Thayer, of the Second Church in Roxbury. 
There were seventeen male members, and twenty-two 
females. 

The arrangement of the people, after the pews were 
sold April 29, 1718, was on this wise : — 

Samuel Sewall, next the pulpit, west. 
John Winchester, Sen., next west. 
Capt. Sam. Aspinwall, Northwest corner. 
Lieut. Thomas Gardner, between west door and men's gallery 
stairs. 

John Seaver, between west door and men's gallery stairs. 

John Druce, left of men's gallery stairs. 

Joseph Gardner, left of front door. 

Josiah Winchester, Sen., right of front door. 

Thomas Stedman, right of women's gallery stairs. 

William Sharp, left of east door. 

Ensign Benj. White, right of east door. 

Peter Boylston, Northeast corner. 

Ministerial Pew, right of pulpit stairs. 

One of the above mentioned Benjamin Whites, and 
Lieutenant Thomas Gardner, were the first deacons, and 
were chosen in 1718. 

Deacon White lived in a house which stood on the site 
of the present residence of Colonel Lyman. This house 
was purchased by Hon. Jonathan Mason, who had it torn 
down in 1809. Between the floors of this house was found 
a carefully folded paper, which contained an account of 
the manner in which the congregation was seated March 
9, 1719. '^ Whole number of individuals seated, 66, of 
whom 28 couples were men and wives." 

In the men's foreseat, in the body seats, are seated Jo- 
siah Winchester, Captain Aspinwall, Joseph Gardner, and 
Edward Devotion. 



SEATING OF THE CONGREGATION. 241 

In the second seat, are seated William Story, Joseph 
Goddard, Thomas Woodward, Daniel Harris. ;ind Jolm 
Ackers. 

In the third seat, ar^ seated James Grigj^s, Samuel 
Newell, Abraham Chamberlain, Ebenezer Kendriek, and 
Robert Harris. 

In the fourth seat, are seated Thomas Lee, William 
Davis, and Joseph Scott. 

In the front foreseat in the gallery, are seated Caleb 
Gardner, Josiah Winchester, Samuel White, Henry Win- 
chester, Joseph Adams, Robert Sharp, Thomas Cotton, 
and Samuel Clark, Jun. 

In the foreseat in the side gallery, are seated Joshua 
Stedman, William Gleason, Dudley Boylston, Addington 
Gardner, John Taylor, Stephen Winchester, and Philip 
Torrey. 

In the second seat in the front, are seated Isaac Glea- 
son, John Wedge, Thomas Woodward, Jun., and James 
Goddard. 

In the women's foreseat, in the body seats, are seated 
the wife of Josiah Winchester, Sen., the widow Ackers, 
the wife of Joseph Gardner, and the Avife of Edward De- 
votion. 

In the second seat, are seated the wife of William 
Story, the wife of Joseph Goddard, the wife of Thohias 
Woodward, the wife of Daniel Harris, the wife of John 
Ackers, and the widow Hannah Stedman. 

In the third seat, the wife of James Griggs, the wife 
of Samuel Xewell, the wife of Abraham Chamberlain, the 
wife of Ebenezer Kenrick, and the wife of Robert Harris. 

In the fourth seat, the wife of Thomas Lee, tlie wife of 
William Davis, and the wif(^ of Joseph Scott. 

In the front foreseat in the gallery, the wife of Sanuiel 
White, the wife of Henry Winchester, the wife of Joseph 



242 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Adams, the wife of Robert Sharp, and the wife of Sam- 
uel Clark, Jmi. 

In the foreseat in the side gallery, the wife of Joshua 
Stedman, the wife of William Gleason, the wife of Dud- 
ley Boylston, the wife of Addington Gardner, the Avife of 
John Taylor. 

In the second seat in the front, the wife of John Wedge 
and the wife of James Goddard. 

A fast day was appointed on the third of July, IT 18, 
" to seek Divine direction in the ordination of a minis- 
ter." 

On the 5th of November the same year, the Rev. James 
Allen of Roxbury was ordained first minister of the 
church. 

Mr. Allen lived, as w^e have before mentioned, in a 
house on the south side of Walnut Street, opposite the 
head of Cypress Street. 

Mr. Allen preached here more than twenty-eight years. 
He died in February, 1747, aged fifty-six years. His death 
was caused by a lingering consumption. He was buried 
in Brookline Cemetery. During his ministry one hundred 
and fifteen were added to the church, " besides forty-four 
who owned the Covenant without coming to the Lord's 
table." The baptisms were two hundred and sixty-one. 
Mr. Allen was called "a pious and judicious divine." 
There are seven sermons of his now extant which weri 
published during his lifetime, which have been said to 
" do equal honor to his head and heart." 

The period of Mr. Allen's ministry, however, w^as not 
without its troubles. During the time of powerful relig- 
ious excitement produced by the preaching of Rev. George 
Whitefield, the Brookline church was much affected by 
it ; and Mr. Allen described this work in a letter to Rev. 
Wm. Cooper in glowing terms, saying, that " scores of 
persons have been under awakenings." 



SECEDKRS. 243 

It seems, however, that during six years from 1788 to 
1744, there were but twenty-two added to Uw, church. 
The effect of the excitement, however, Hke similar rehg- 
ious fervors in our own times, was to prochice a reaction, 
and in less than a year from the time Mr. xVUen wrote his 
enthusiastic letter to Mr. Cooper and the Convention of 
ortliodox ministers, he condemned the wliole tiling as a 
delusion. 

The effect of this revulsion of feeling on his part was 
to cause six of the leading members of liis church to secede 
with their families. They wrote him a caustic letter in 
which they say, '^ Now we desire with humility and meek- 
ness to give you the reasons of our withdrawal from you 
and your church." 

We copy from this paper a few of the reasons given by 
the seceders for their course. 

'• I. The first reason we shall mention, is I\Ir. Allen's speakin;^ 
against that, which we think to be the glorions work of God, but 
he calls it a delusion. 

"II. His speaking against those ministers, which we believe 
the Lord has sent out to invite sinners to Christ. Mr. Allen 
warns people not to go to hear them, and said they who g^o to 
hear them go upon the Devil's ground. 

'• III. We cannot join with Mr. Allen in letting in those to 
jneacli who we fear are strangers to the life and power of God 
in their souls ; because they preach only the form, as we think. 
One of which coming into ]Mr. Allen's house one time, he said 
he had as lief see the Devil." 

There Avere other similar reasons given, and the paper 
was signed by Ebenezer Kendrick, Nath'l Shepard, John 
Seaver, Jr., Elhanan Winchester, Jr., Richard Seaver, 
Dudley Boylston, Jr. 

This secession, from this and other churches, was the 



244 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

origin of the " New Lights." They began to hold meet- 
ings in Mr. Shepard's house, which was where the Pub- 
lic Library now stands, and was afterwards known as the 
Dana house. 

Those who lived in the upper part of the town held 
meetings at Mr. Winchester's, afterward " the Richards 
Tavern." The sect finally broke up, and distributed its 
members among Baptists and Shakers. We shall give 
a further account of Elhanan Winchester at some future 
time. 

The Rev. ]\h\ Allen remained firm in the Orthodox 
faith till his death, notwithstanding his disapproval of 
itinerant revivalists and the measures they employed. 
But the effect of the division and unkind feeling among 
his people was to render Mr. Allen very unhappy, and is 
said to have been the cause of the consumption which 
ended his life. 

After Mr. Allen's decease the Society gave a call to the 
Rev. Cotton Brown, son of a minister of Haverhill ; he 
was ordained October 26, 1748. Those who read the 
account of the Walley house will remember that he Avas 
there mentioned as having been engaged to Mr. Allen's 
daughter, and that the Walley house (so called) was 
built for him to live in. The young lady, however, died 
in 1750, and Mr. Brown died in 1751, aged twenty-five 
years, having been pastor of the church not quite two 
years and a half. 

The eminent Dr. Cooper of Brattle Street Church, spoke 
thus of his character at the time of his decease : — 

" He was a gentleman who, by the happiness of his genius, 
his application to study, and taste for polite literature, his piety 
and prudence, his sweetness of temper, and softness of manners, 
had raised in his friends the fairest hopes, and gave them just 
reason to expect in liim one of the brightest ornaments of society 
and a peculiar blessing to the church." 



EXPENSES OF ORDIXATIOX. 245 

Mr. Brown was buried in Brookline Cemetery. 

The next clergyman who accepted a call to tlie Brook- 
line Church was Mr. Nathaniel Potter, of Elizabeth, New 
Jersey, who was ordained pastor of the churcli November 
19, 1755. He remained in this connection three years 
and a half. He had been hastily called, from a distant 
city, without credentials, and was as hastily settled. Of 
him Dr. Pierce remarked in an anniversary sermon, that 
" thougli professedly orthodox in faith, he was destined, 
during a short ministry, to give woeful emphasis to the 
apostle's monition, ' Lay hands suddenly on no man.' " 

A bill presented to the town by Deacon Elisha Gard- 
ner for the expenses of this man's ordination, possesses a 
curious interest when viewed with modern eves. 



to monney Pad at The 


ordanatioii. 


old tenor £ G. 





to Rum 




£ 1. 


1 4.0 


to Shugar 




£ 1. 


1 0. G 


to spice 








to turces (turkeys ?) 




3 


0. 0. 0. 


to fouls 




1. 


1.0 


to pork 


* 


3 


4 6 


to crambres 







8 


to puding pans 







1 5 




£18. 


2 G 



Of this charge the Selectmen ordered the paying of 
<£. 2. s. 8. d. 4. and probably the Society paid the rest. 
Ordinations in those days evident!}^ involved the consid- 
eration of material as well as spiritual wants, for the 
time being. 

REV. JOSEPH JACKSON. 

After the removal of ^Ir. Potter, the church extended 
a call to the Rev. Joseph Jackson, at that time a tutor at 
Cambridge. He had occasionally preached for the Brook- 
line society, and was much liked by his hearers. 



246 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Mr. Jackson accepted the invitation, and was ordained 
fourth minister of the church, April 9, 1760. The 
only relic or memorial of his ordination which we have 
been able to trace out is the bill for the expenses of the 
dinner. It is somewhat similar to that of his predeces- 
sor. 

"Brookline, 1760. Elisha Gardner's accompt to providing 
at the Ordination of mr Joseph Jackson old tenor 

to cash for Sundries at the ordination £ 1 4. 00. 

to cash for crambres and Ross water 2. 00. 

to cash for butter and Eggs and Pickels 2. 15. 

to cash for to pay the Cakes 6. 00. 

£24. 15. 6 
Errors Excepted. 
Allowed by the Selectmen." 

The rum being omitted, perhaps the rosewater served 
instead. 

Evidently some repairs were made on the church- 
building and things put in order generally, for the com- 
ing of the new minister, as we find the following bill, 
dated two days after the ordination : — 

'' April the 11 Day 1760. 
for work Brookline Meeting house on the Pulpit Laying a 
floore in the Same and Raising the Same and Paint and Paint- 
in s;. for weather Boairds and Doore. £2.-2.-8 
caseings for one End of the Meetting hous 0-5-4 
for a Lock for the Doore and a Paire of . 9-4 
hinges . 5-9 
for three Bolts and three Quarters of a hundred of 
Board nails. 4-8 
for the Doors and Step. Except Arrows. I.-IO-O 



£.4-17-9 
Ebenezer Thaving. 



MR. JACKSON — AN INCIDENT. 247 

A yoar later was tlie following : — 

Bkookline March 19, 1801. 

The Select men of Erookline in Beluilf of ye town to Joshua 
Davis Dr. Decern IGth. 

To a Shutter for the Meting-house & a Draw for ye liible 

Puting up ye same £0. 5-4. 

To a bench for the School and mending seats 5-4 



10-8 
Errors Excepted. 

JosiiiA Davis. 

Mr. Jackson married Hannah, daughter of John Avery, 
Esq., of Boston. He occupied the house ^vhich his pre- 
decessors had occupied, during nearly twenty years of 
his ministry. During his absence one day the house took 
fire, and though not Avholly destroyed, was badly dam- 
aged. 

Dr. Aspinwall, who was passing, rendered efficient ser- 
vice in saving ]Mr. Jackson's library. In May, 1781, the 
ground occupied foil now nearly a century for a parson- 
age lot, was given for that purpose by Mrs. Walcott, a 
daughter of Judge Sewall, and a house was built the fol- 
lowing year, into which Mr. Jackson removed, and there 
he spent the remainder of his days. 

Mr. Jackson was admired by many as a preacher ; he 
seems to have been greatly respected and beloved by his 
people ; but there was an awe amounting almost to fear 
on the part of the children and young people of the 
l^irish. Perhaps the austere manners, the style of dress, 
and the powdered wig worn by the clergy of those days, 
may have had something to do with this feeling. 

An incident is related of the boys of those days, wliich 
illustrates this point. In the old meeting-house tlie cliil- 
dren occupied the gallery. A broad balustrade ran along 



248 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

the front of this, and one Sunday a stray dog havmg 
found ]iis way into the gallery, mounted this bahistrade 
and took a survey of the congregation. Either with or 
without the help of the boys, the dog by a sudden lurch 
was precipitated into the pew of Mr. Winchester, below, 
with such violence as to split the seat. What the conse- 
quence was to the dog is not reported. But the boys, in 
spite of minister and tything man, were convulsed with 
laughter which they could not repress. 

The next day, when they were having their recess at 
the brick school-house, the dignified clergyman was seen 
walking up the hill. When he reached the school-house 
not a boy was to be found far or near. Over walls, be- 
hind fences, into the woods, any^yhere out of sight of the 
minister, they scattered like frightened partridges, and 
kept still till he had gone, invisible as Roderick Dhu's 
men till the whistle was blown. 

When he called on his parishioners, the children often 
hid themselves till his visit was over. Not that he was 
unkind, or intentionally repellant to the little ones, but 
the office of minister was held in greater sanctity then 
than now, and the children were taught to fear him. 
Many a child used to hide behind the wall when about 
to meet him on the street, rather than make the bow or 
courtesy which the custom of the times demanded. 

In 1790, Mr. Jackson lost his only son, an affliction 
from which he never fully recovered. 

Like Mr. Allen, he too had some parish troubles, prin- 
cipally arising from the preaching of the '' New Lights." 
Mr. Elhanan Winchester, previously alluded to, had a 
son of the same name, who was nine years of age when 
Mr. Jackson came to Brookline. This young man be- 
came a Baptist, and afterwards a Universalist, preach- 
ing; the final restoration of all men, a doctrine which 



REV. JOSEPH JACKSON. 240 

gave Mr. Jackson much trouble. i\Ir. Jackson's liealtli 
began to fail after the death of his son, but it -was his 
constant prayer that his life and his usefulness might 
terminate together. His prayer Avas answered, for he 
continued to preach till the last Sabbath of his life, and 
even made arrangements for the supply of his pulpit for 
the following Sunday. He died on the 22d of July, 
1796, aged sixty-two years, having been pastor of the 
Brookline Church thirty-six years. 

Such was his extreme modesty and diffidence tliat he 
never would allow a sermon of his to be published, and 
he ordered that all his manuscripts should be destroyed 
at his death. 

Mr. Jackson was not buried in Brookline, but his body 
was carried to Boston, and deposited in his family tomb. 
He left a daughter, Sarah, who married Atherton Thayer, 
Esq., of Braintree, and after his death, his brother Ste- 
phen. She died in 1809, leaving a son and three daugh- 
ters. Mrs. Jackson died in 1800. 

In the year 1759, Mr. Samuel White gave a wood-lot 
in Newton, to the First Church, for the perpetual use of 
the ministry in Brookline. 

An old bill in our possession reads as follows : — 

^^ Aitgst 1/e 3 1763 Deacon this may inform you that I 
have carted the Revnd mr Jackson four cord & a half of wood 
& I pray you when you and your brethren the Select men meet 
you would writ me an ordr for my money & in so doing you 
will oblige yours to serve 

old tenor. 

22-10-0. JOSIAH WOODARD " 



Mr. Jackson was a smoker, and when the ministers 
met at his house, it was customary for him to invite such 
of his guests as indulged in the same habit, to share in a 



17 



250 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLIKE. 

social smoke. An old tin case for pipes and tobacco, 
and a pair of tobacco tongs, were long preserved in the 
family of his successor, not for use, but as curiosities. 

The religious views held by Mr. Jackson and his pre- 
decessors, were those now held by conservative, or old 
school. Orthodox churches. The dividing line between 
Unitarianism and Orthodoxy had not then been so 
sharply defined as to leave the Brookline Church on the 
liberal side. Mr. Jackson was much lamented by many 
friends, not only in his own church, but in other places. 
Many persons were in the habit of walking a long dis- 
tance, some even from Dorchester, to hear him preach. 
With all his diffidence and modesty about preaching on 
public occasions (which it was his habit to decline), he 
was fearless in denouncing what he believed to be er- 
rors, either in belief or practice, among his own people. 

When the people of this country were suffering from 
impoverishment by the Revolutionary War, and many 
were content to pay their obligations to their clergymen 
in depreciated currency, the Brookline people showed 
their appreciation and regard for Mr. Jackson, by allow- 
ing him, from year to year, above his stated salary, as 
much more, as covered all his annual expenses. 



1 



REV. DR. PIERCK. :2.)t 



CHAPTER XIII. 

KKV. DU. PIEKCi: : BIOGUArilY. Mil. rillLHRlCK AND TIIi: 

AXTI-SLAVKKY MOVEMENT. POLLY HATCH: ANECDOTES, 

HE II MARRIAGE AND DEATH. 

TN writing at the head of this chapter the name of the 
^ venerable clergyman so well remembered and so much 
beloved in our town, we feel that we are only just begin- 
ning the story of the First Church, he was so long iden- 
tified with it, and was so essentially a part of lirookline. 
In the language of Rev. Dr. Putnam, on a memorable 
occasion, " As I understand it. Dr. Pierce is Brookline, 
and Brookline is Dr. Pierce." 

He was so truly identified with all our local interests, 
that Brookline has never seemed the same since his de- 
parture, to those who knew him, that it did before. 

Dr. Pierce was born in Dorchester, July 14, 1773. 
He graduated, holding high rank in his class, at Harvard 
College, in 179-3. He was for the two succeeding years 
assistant preceptor at Leicester Academy. In 1795, lie 
commenced the study of theology with Rev. Thaddeus 
jMason Harris, of Dorchester. 

In 1797, he was invited to fill the vacancy in the 
Brookline Church, caused by the death of Mr. Jackson. 
He held at that time a tutorship at Harvard College. 
The invitation was accepted, and he was Ordained pastor 
of the Brookline Church, ]\Iarch 15, 1797. 

In October of the following year, he was married to 
Miss Lovell of Medway, who had been one of his pupils 



252 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

at the Academy. She died m July, 1800, leaving an in- 
fant son, who lived but two years. 

In 1802, Dr. Pierce was married to Lucy Tappan of 
Northampton, a lady beloved for her quiet virtues, and 
who lived to a venerated old age. 

The old church edifice, which had now been standing 
more than fourscore years, was quite inadequate to aci- 
commodate the increased population of the town. The 
congregation received quite a large accession soon after 
Dr. Pierce's ordination, of Dorchester people, who re- 
moved here, following their fellow townsman, in whom 
they took a just pride. Among these were the Robin- 
sons, Withingtons, Leedses, Tolmans, and others. 

The subject of building a new meeting-house was 
soon agitated, and some mischievous person, probably 
desiring to facilitate the matter, set fire to the old one. 
It was soon discovered, and extinguished after some dam- 
age to one of the rear corners. 

May 16, 1804, it was voted to build a new meeting- 
house on the site of the old one. This, however, was 
found to be impracticable for various reasons, and the 
vote was reconsidered. On the 5tli of September of the 
same year, it was voted to build the meeting-house on 
the spot occupied by the present house. 

In April, 1805, the corner-stone was laid. The frame 
was raised by the help of machinery in a few days. The 
architect and master-builder was Mr. Peter Banner, an 
Englishman. This man settled in Brookline, and for 
many years after his death his widow occupied the house 
in Aspinwall Avenue, now owned by Mr. Melcher. 

The new meeting-house stood fronting the street, with 
a grass plat in front of it. It was sixty-eight feet long, 
and sixty-four feet wide, with a porch nineteen feet long 
and thirty-eight feet wide. There were lobbies or ante- 



THE MEETING-HOUSE. 2.j:3 

rooms each side of the porch, eleven feet sqiuirt'. There 
was no cellar under the building, it being a rocky foun- 
dation, and the house was raised up a little from the 
ground, and openings on either side in the under-pinning 
afforded space for ventilation. The height of the liouse 
was thirty-five feet and six inches from the foundation 
to the eaves. The spire measured one hundred and 
thirty-seven feet from the ground. 

There were seventy-four pews on the floor and four- 
teen in the gallery. Afterwards, during Dr. Pierce's 
ministry, some improvements were added. No provision 
was ever made for warming the old church, and the 
women carried foot-stoves with them. The new church 
Avas warmed by two square box stoves, in which wood 
was burned. 

The pulpit and the caps of the pews were miule of 
southern cherry-AVOod, contributed by Stephen Iliggin- 
son, Jr. The bell, which was cast in London, and weighed 
one thousand pounds, was given by Hon. Stephen Ilig- 
ginson, father of the above. 

Mr. John Lucas, who lived nearly opposite the Reser- 
voir, gave four hundred dollars, out of which was pur- 
chased a clock, which served faithfully as long as the old 
meeting-house stood, and still does dutv in the old Town 
Hall. ^ ; J 

Richard Sullivan, Esq., who lived on the place now 
owned by Mrs. Bowditch, gave a hundred and fifty dol- 
lars, for the stone steps. Mr. Thomas Walley gave an 
elegant pulpit Bible, valued at thirty-six dollars. ]Mr. 
David Hyslop gave a baptismal basin, which cost forty- 
seven dollars. 

The whole cost of the house was 818,083. Some ad- 
ditional expenses, of furnishing, probably, brought the 
amount up to 820,193, and tlie whole was apportioned 
on the pews, which were sold at auction. 



254 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BEOOKLINE. 

No pew on the first floor was prized at less than one 
hundred and sixty dollars, and none in the gallery at less 
than one hundred and ten dollars. The highest cost of 
a pew, including a bonus paid for a choice, was five hun- 
dred and twenty-five dollars. 

Dr. Pierce preached a valedictory sermon on leaving 
the old house, June 8, 1806, from the text, " Lord I have 
loved the habitation of thy house and the place where 
thine honor dwelleth." 

The dedication sermon was from the words, " In all 
places where I record my name, I will come unto thee 
and I will bless thee." 

The next day, the work of demolishing the old church 
commenced. The ancient pulpit which had been faith- 
fully pounded and belabored by the fists of the energetic 
Mr. Jackson, was denuded of its upholstery, and carried 
into the parsonage attic, where it served as a playhouse 
for the pastor's children for many years. It has since 
been tastefully remodeled as a bookcase, and still graces 
the parsonage. The hour-glass, whose sands had run 
through many a tedious hour for the unfed souls in the 
old house, or had needed turning only too quickly for 
the more devotional, now served its time in fleeting min- 
utes among the attic treasures of the little ones. The 
ancient pewter christening basin, from which Mr. Jack- 
son had bathed the infant brow of many a now gray- 
haired father and mother of the town, was turned to 
domestic uses in the pastor's house. After many vicissi- 
tudes it came into possession of the writer, with the 
ancient tin tobacco case, previously mentioned as belong- 
ing to Mr. Jackson, after the death of the late David 
R. Griggs, to whom they had been given as curiosities. 

It seems that the ancient churcli for many years, in- 
stead of having a sexton, was taken care of by a slave 



SINGING IN THE FIRST CHURCH. 255 

belonging to the Sewall family, as Henry Sewall's bill 
against the town for the services of his " slave Felix," 
in that capacity, is still in existence. 

The first white sexton of whom we can gather any 
account, was a man named Blanchard, who lived in a 
little house on the Aspinwall estate, close to Washington 
Street. He w^as succeeded, if we are correctly informed, 
by Captain Benjamin Bradley, who served for many 
years in that capacity, after the second meeting-house 
was built. 

Very little information has come down to us respecting 
the singing in the First Church, in the early times. A 
brief note written by Mr. Jackson lets a ray of light on 
the forgotten history of those days. It is addressed to 
^Ir. Isaac Gardner, w^lio was afterwards killed at Lex- 
ington. 

"Brooklix Aiif/. 8, 17G3. 
" Sir, 

" I perceived it was not agreeable to you to lead in the 
singhig yesterday — If Mr. Aspinwall does not return before 
ye Thanksgiving I will speak to Mr. Bowles, 

Yrs. 

J. Jackson. " 

What Mr. Aspinwall this was, we have no means of 
knowing, but it is certain that Mr. Isaac Gardner was a 
line singer, and did " lead in the singing," as did his son 
Isaac S. Gardner, after him. Tlie bass-viol and trom- 
bone Avere the principal instruments used. When Dr. 
Pierce came, a new impulse was given to the music, as 
he had a clear, strong voice, and sang with great energy. 

After Dr. Pierce had been for some time settled in 
Brookline, a board of trustees was organized to take 
charge of all matters concerning the church music. Mr. 
Ebenezer Heath was president and secretary, and Dr. 
Charles Wild, vice-president. 



256 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

By request of Mr. Heath, on behalf of the board, Mr. 
Benjamin B. Davis was requested to take cliarge of the 
singing, as chorister, in the year 1818. Of the faithful 
devotion with which for thirty-eight years he led the 
choir, any attendant upon Dr. Pierce's ministry for that 
length of time will bear witness. 

The choir consisted of thirty members, many of the 
names being still familiar to the people of the town. 
Prominent among these at that time, or a little later, 
were Deacon Pierce, James Pierce, John Woodward, 
Jabez Hunting, Lewis Withington, James Leeds, Samuel 
Barry, Jeremiah Lyon, E. W. Stone, Eben Heath, 
Charles Heath, Jona Jackson, Capt. Charles Stearns, 
Marshall Stearns, James Robinson, the daughters of Mr. 
James Pierce, Eunice Ford, Ann Dunn, two daughters 
of Mr. Celfe, three daughters of Dr. Pierce, and some 
years later, Susan, the eldest daughter of Mr. Benjamin 
B. Davis. This young lady was not only a sweet singer, 
but lovely in mind and person, deservedly a favorite Avith 
all who knew her. But her fair young life, only just 
unfolding its charms to a loving circle of friends, was like 
a spring flower, the joy of but a brief season ; and the 
voice which had given such pleasure on earth, was called 
to join the choirs who praise in " the house not made 
with hands." Several years afterwards, the other daugh- 
ter of Mr. Davis, who was also a member of the choir, 
died young, leaving a childless father to sing sorrowfully 
without them. 

Mr. James Pierce, who also played the bass-viol, as 
well as sung, took his little daughters into " the singers' 
seats," when they were so small that they were obliged 
to stand on crickets to bring their heads above the balus- 
trade. One of them, who was afterwards the wife of 
Charles Stearns, Jr., was for years the leader of the 
female voices. 



SACRED MUSIC. 257 

The instru mental music, as there was no organ, was 
subject to variations at different times, but several per- 
formers were for years identified with the society. Among 
these were William H. Brown, who played the bassoon, 
John H. Pierce, Dr. Charles Wild, and Charles Lyon, 
the flute, George iMurdock, bass-viol, Artemas Newell, 
bombadoon. Job Grush, clarionet, and somewhat later, 
l\Ir. Flagg, who for several years was hired, also played 
the clarionet. 

Dr. Pierce attended nearly all the meetings of the 
choir, for practice, and his affable and courteous manners, 
and the intense interest which he took in sacred music, 
no doubt had much influence in preserving harmony 
among the members, and keeping up their interest. He 
usually stood in the pulpit and joined with great fervor 
in the singing. He frequently attended the Oratorios of 
the Handel and Haydn Society, and enjoyed them ex- 
ceedingly. Dr. Pierce and Dr. Bates of Dedham called 
a meeting of the singers of Norfolk County, to improve 
church music, from the use of newly published books. 
On one occasion wlien there was an unusually severe 
snow-storm, there were but thirteen persons at church, 
but Dr. Pierce went through the services as usual, and 
he and ]Mr. Davis were the choir. 

Among the Doctor's parishioners was ]\Ir. David Hys- 
lop, an estimable citizen, but who could not tell one tune 
from another. One Sunday, a stranger who was preach- 
ing instead of Dr. Pierce, took occasion to quote in his 



sermon 



" The man who has no music in his soul, 
Is fit for treason, stratagem, and spoil." 

Mr. Hyslop felt himself severely reflected upon, and 
rising from his seat near the pulpit he walked deliber- 
atelv out. 



258 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

It was customary to open the services with an anthem. 
One Sabbath morning a dog, which had ventured into 
the church in search of his master, had reached the broad 
stair near the pulpit, when suddenly, the preliminary 
scrape of the instruments being given, the choir burst 
forth in a jubilant anthem. The terrified dog, having 
no ear for music, set up a tumultuous barking, which 
accompaniment not having a tendency to promote de- 
votional feelings on the part of the congregation, the 
sexton appeared and assisted him in retiring promptly 
from the scene. 

Great attention was given to rehearsing suitable music 
for Thanksgiving Days. Sometimes a sum was raised 
by subscription to secure the services of some extra 
musicians from Boston, so that there was quite an or- 
chestra. 

In the year 1800, there were but six hundred and five 
inhabitants in Brookline, but it will be recollected that 
no other church was formed until 1828. Most of the 
church-going people, therefore, were attendants upon 
Dr. Pierce's ministry. He knew personally every man, 
woman, and child, who thus attended, and remembered 
the name and age of every child whom he baptized, and 
none were beneath his notice or ever forgotten. 

For many years. Dr. Pierce's salary was but four hun- 
dred dollars, besides the rent of the parsonage and a sup- 
ply of firewood annually. This, however, was generously 
supplemented by his people by gifts of every sort, and 
neither he nor his large family knew any lack. This, 
however, was greatly owing to remarkable domestic econ- 
omy. 

The church was thrifty but not wealthy, as the people 
were chiefly plain farmers or mechanics. There was 
however a gradual increase of merchants either active or 



ECCENTRIC INDIVIDUALS. 259 

retired, among the tax- payers, and an increase of wealth 
in the society, and also of culture. 

One upholstered pew in the church was looked upon as 
a most aristocratic institution. This was the property of 
j\Ir. David Hyslop, who also indulged in the luxury of red 
morocco covered books with his family coat of arms upon 
them, and a drawer in the pew to hold tliem, greatly 
to tlie admiration or envy of the children of the less 
favored. 

Any attempt at display in dress or manners was no- 
ticed fifty years ago in Brookline, as the same things are 
now in obscure country villages. There were eccentric 
individuals, curious oddities, intermingled with the gen- 
eral average of the people, any one of whom might be 
the subject of an entertaining sketch. Among these were 
Black Susy, of whom we have already written, who always 
sat in tlie high narrow pew above the singers' seats, known 
as "the negro pew," — and Miss Prudy Heath, a quaint 
character, who was never seen in the street without a large 
green cotton umbrella, yet who remembered her minister 
with many generous gifts. Many anecdotes are told of 
these, persons. 

There was also at one time an Englishman, employed 
as a shoemaker, who appeared on Sundays at church in 
the afternoon in small-clothes and a generous expanse of 
highly ruffled shirt-bosom, always with a rose in his but- 
ton-hole as long as roses lasted. He was a subject for 
much amusement and comment, and just such a character 
as to call out the quizzing propensities of such a wag as 
the late well-remembered Jerry Davenport, who sat con- 
veniently near him in church. The hero of the ruffles 
and roses was usually asleep soon after the sermon began, 
and on waking had a habit of smelling at the rose he car- 
ried with great energy. 



260 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

One Sunday the irrepressible Jerry, quietly reaching 
over the sleeper, filled the rose in his button-hole with 
pungent snuff, which he carried for the purpose. After 
a while the sleeper woke, and as usual drew out the rose 
and took a vigorous smell at it. Such a sneezing as fol- 
lowed ! Sneeze upon sneeze, which could not be held 
back or smothered, and the discomfited dandy made the 
best of his way out of church sneezing till he Avas out of 
hearing. The joke was better than a good dinner to the 
waggish perpetrator, who chuckled over it long afterwards 
with great delight. 

In 1829 or 1830, Mr. Elisha Stone succeeded Captain 
Bradley as sexton of the church, which office he filled for 
thirty years. He was a plodding but faithful citizen in 
the duties not only of his office as sexton, but w^as the 
only undertaker and constable in the toAvn for many 
years. He lived to lay away all but two of his own large 
family in the cemetery whither he had carried so many of 
our townspeople, and where at last he was borne, worn 
out with the infirmities of age. 

Previous to Dr. Pierce's time there had been presented 
at various times to the First Church four silver tankards. 
One was the gift of Edward Devotion in 1744, one the 
gift of Miss Mary Allen, daughter of the first minister, 
in 1750 ; one Avas given by Miss Ann White, and one 
by Mrs. Susanna Sharp in 1770. In the same year two 
silver cups were presented by Thomas and Mary Wood- 
ward, and two more were given by William Hyslop in 
1792. This ancient silver is still the property of the 
church just as it was presented. 

In addition to these, two silver cups were presented by 
Miss Prudence Heath in 1818, and two by Deacon Robin- 
son and wife the same year. In the year 1805 Dr. Pierce 
preached a sermon on the anniversary of the completion 



A MATTER-OF-FACT MAX. 261 

of a century from the incorporation of the town. In 
1887, Avlien he had been settled forty years, he dehvered 
an address called '' Reminiscences of Forty Years," filled 
with interesting local history and rich in valuable statis- 
tics. In 1845, when the second Town Hall was dedi- 
cated, he delivered an address which exceeded the previous 
one in historical value, and created a great interest. It 
was printed and freely circulated. A valuable appendix 
to this document has been a mine of information, from 
which much materiiil for these sketches has been drawn. 

The Doctor called himself a matter-of-fact man, and he 
was eminently so. Not an incident of local or public 
interest but was treasured up in his memory ; not a birth, 
death, or house-raising in the town but he recorded and 
remembered it ; not a circumstance connected with the 
schools or teachers, that did not enlist his interest. ^' There 
was," it has been said, almost '^ as much truth as wit in 
the remark of the late Judge Davis, when — all other at- 
tempts to find out having failed, and Dr. Pierce could not 
tell the birth-place of a certain ])erson — he said, that it 
was no use to make further inquiries ; for if the Doctor 
did not know where the man was born, he was not horn 
anyivhere.'" * 

A strong friendship existed between Dr. Pierce and 
Rev. Wm. H. Shailer, the third minister of the Baptist 
Church. In 1840 when the Baptist Church was enlarged 
and remodeled, a cordial invitation was given the people 
of that society to worship in the First Church while 
the repairs were going on. This was gratefully accepted, 
and Dr. Pierce and Mr. Shailer occupied the pulpit to- 
gether, one preaching in the forenoon and the other in 
the afternoon. 

* A conundrum had local circulation at one time, to this ofTect : " Why is 
Dr. Pierce like a palm-tree? " but the dullest could scarcely fail of giving; the 
only possible answer: "Because he bears dates." 



262 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

When a half century from his ordination had elapsed, 
Dr. Pierce had a jubilee, which was one of the pleas- 
antest local affairs which ever occurred in the town. 
Scattered natives of the town came home from distant 
places to participate in it, and hosts of friends of the good 
old minister, from far and near, joined in the celebration 
to which he and they had long looked forward. Dr. 
Pierce's discourse was from the text, "I have been young 
and now am old." It was like the other addresses alluded 
to, full of historical interest, and is invaluable for the sta- 
tistics it contains. In the evening there was a collation 
at the Town Hall, and a presentation of silver-plate, 
money, and flowers to the venerable man who was the 
centre of interest. It was on this occasion that Rev. 
Dr. Putnam made the remark, previously quoted, that 
" Dr. Pierce is Brookline and Brookline is Dr. Pierce." 

At this time, March 15, 1847, Dr. Pierce was in vig- 
orous health, and as full of energy as at any time during 
his life. He however consented to the appointment of a 
colleague. Rev. Frederic N. Knapp, who was ordained 
October 6, of the same year, but he continued to preach, 
and to take part in various meetings, both in Brookline 
and in various other places. 

The meeting-house and the minister grew old together. 
There would have been something incongruous in the 
building of a modern church, with stained-glass windows 
and new and fashionable appointments, while Dr. Pierce 
was the only minister. The house and the minister were 
in perfect adaptation to each other. Many regretted that 
the fine substantial old edifice should be taken down. It 
much resembled Dr. Putnam's church on Roxbury Hill, 
and might have been as well preserved till the present 
day ; but there being no cellar under it, furnaces could 
not be introduced, and it was not thought advisable to re- 



LAST ILLNESS OF DR. PIERCK. 263 

fit a building which must be warmed by stoves. It was 
also difficult for Mr. Knapp to preach in it. In 1848 the 
new church at present standing was built. The dedica- 
tion took place December 1, 1848. The shrubbery 
around it was set out by Dr. Charles Wild, in the spring 
of 1849. In March, Dr. Pierce was seized with a sharp, 
sudden illness. Relief was obtained, but not a cure. He 
continued to suffer great pain, and as weeks passed on 
seemed gradually failing. During his long ministry he 
had lost only thirteen Sabbaths by ill-health, and several 
of those were in 1805, when he had a rheumatic fever. 

He was a fine-looking, tall, large framed man, with a 
countenance " beaming with cheerfulness and benignity." 
His hair, from his early manhood, was almost white, and 
became beautiful in its snowy whiteness long before he 
was old. He remarked during his last sickness that for 
forty years he had not known what it was to have a phys- 
ical infirmity worth naming. He had always had a habit 
of rising early, and either sawing or splitting wood, 
or working in his garden for two hours or more before 
breakfast. He was so vigorous a walker that when on an 
exchange anywhere within six or seven miles, he used to 
go out and back on foot, and without fatigue. He was 
temperate both in eating and drinking and economical 
without a shade of meanness or miserly tendency. 

When it was talked of that Dr. Pierce was ill and might 
not recover, the community was shocked. The very idea 
of sickness was scarcely to be entertained in connection 
with such a personification of health and vigor. Nobody 
seemed to have thought that he could die, at least till ex- 
treme old age should gradually impair his energies. 

He belonged to a long-lived family and though at an 
age when most men grow infirm, he was as elastic and vig- 
orous as a boy, till the day of his first attack of iUness. 



264 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

All was done that love and skill could suggest to arrest 
the course of the disease, but in vain, and it soon became 
apparent that the beloved pastor and friend of the people 
was soon to be called away. Unused as he was to illness, 
there was no irritability or impatience, and with unfailing 
serenity and cheerfulness he waited for the end. In 
August of that year a new organ was placed in the church, 
and on Saturday the 18th, there was a trial of the instru- 
ment. This was of course an event of great interest to 
one so fond of music as the Doctor, and though he was too 
feeble to walk or ride, he was carried in his chair by some 
of his young friends, to the church. There he read some 
passages from the Scriptures and a hymn, joining heartily 
in the singing. At his own special request the tune sung 
was " Old Hundred," which Dr. Pierce used to say was 
'' the best tune that ever was written or ever would be." 

All rose and sung the hymn, standing, except the Doc- 
tor himself, who playfully asked that the old pastor be 
excused, as he no longer belonged to " the rising genera- 
tion." 

He was borne to his home by the same loving hands, 
never to be carried out again till he was carried for burial. 
Daily, however, he received the visits of a host of friends, 
who came laden with flowers, fruits, or other proofs of 
their affection ; and in the words of another, " wealth 
never purchased and power never won attentions of all 
kinds so devoted and loving as were gladly rendered with- 
out stint and in constant anticipation of his slightest 
wishes," not merely from his own society or townspeople 
but from all sects and many towns and the neighboring 
cities. 

The great friendship between Dr. Pierce and Rev. 
Mr. Shailer, whom he often called his " oldest son," 
seemed to grow stronger as the former was drawing near 



DEATH OF DR. PIERCE. — FUNERAL SOLEMXITIES. 2i^r> 

to the close of life. For three months, Mr. Shiiik'r 
visited him three times a week and carefully sliavetl him, 
and by reading or genial conversation beguiled the tedious 
hours of illness. xVmong his numerous visitors, were one 
hundred and twenty clergj-men, representing seven differ- 
ent denominations. 

His colleague. Rev. Mr. Knapp, was also one with 
whom he had most cordial sympathy, and whom he would 
have chosen to fill that place had the matter been left to 
him to decide. So that his people in deciding according 
to their own choice, had also acted in accordance with 
the wishes of their pastor. 

Dr. Pierce failed very rapidly after his visit to the 
church, at the trial of the organ, but retained possession 
of his faculties and consciousness until the eveninsf of 
Thursday, August 23. His last words were spoken that 
evening to Mr. Shailer, who with the family and two or 
three near friends were present. Mr. Shailer made an 
inquiry respecting the petition which he should offer for 
him in the evening prayer, to which he replied, '' Entire 
submission to the Divine will." He never spoke again, 
but still reclining in the chair which he had occupied for 
weeks, without lying down, he quietly breathed his last 
at half-past eleven in the forenoon, August 24, 1849, 
aged seventy-six years. 

The funeral solemnities took place at the church, on 
the afternoon of the 27th. There were no gloomy dra- 
peries, — they would have ill befitted the last offices for 
one who had been preeminently an apostle of cheerful- 
ness, who had done his life's work well, and peacefully 
passed on. 

The baptismal font was filled with white liowers, and 
a wreath was laid upon the coffin by one of the children 
of the Sunday-school. 

18 



266 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The body was borne from the parsonage to the church 
by the same young men who had carried him thither a 
week before, attended by eight clergymen as pall-bear- 
ers. Rev. Mr. Shailer read the Scriptures, the venerable 
Dr. Lowell of Boston offered the prayer (in compliance 
with the special wish of Dr. Pierce), and Rev. Mr. Knapp, 
his colleague, delivered the discourse. The last message 
of the dying minister to his people was so beautiful, that 
we give it as repeated by Mr. Knapp on this solemn oc- 
casion. 

" When you gather with my friends around my re- 
mains," he said, " read to them those cheering words of 
Jesus, ' I am the resurrection and the life ; he that be- 
lieveth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ; 
and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die.' 
and say to my people," he continued, " my faith and hope 
are there ; that I do not feel that I shall ever die, but 
only pass on to a higher life. And beseech them," he 
added, " beseech them, if they love me, and would ex- 
press their love, to do it by remembering me while they 
seek Christ as their Saviour, and strive to live as his 
disciples." 

The services at the church were attended by a great 
concourse of people, many of whom were unable to enter 
it at all, but who followed the remains to the cemetery. 
Among them were the entire theological schools, students 
and professors, from Cambridge and Newton, the presi- 
dent and two ex-presidents of Harvard College. An 
old lady, upwards of eighty years of age, walked from 
Roxbury that afternoon, not having heard of his death, 
hoping to see him once more living, and arrived at the 
cemetery just in time to see the beloved face as it lay in 
the light of the summer sunset, before it was shut out 
from sight forever. 



THEOLOGICAL VIKWS OF DR. PIEHCE. 207 

A simple white monument just wltliiu tlie cemetery 
wall marks his last resting place. 

We have purposely omitted, hitherto, speaking of Dr. 
Pierce's theological views, preferring to give first his 
final message to his people. "We now subjoin an extract 
from an article which api^eared in the " Cliristian In- 
quirer," soon after his death, and which is considered by 
those better qualified to judge, a fair and just estimate 
of him as a preacher. 

" He uniformly refused to be classed with any sect whatever, 
'or to take any names except those of a ' Congregationalist ' and 
a ' Christian.' He seldom preached doctrinal sermons. He had 
no taste for controversy ; and hardly ever indulged in expres- 
sions of his belief clothed in any other phraseology than that of 
the Bible. For any party to claim him as a member on account 
of his opinions would be showing a sad want of respect to liis 
memory, and an utter disregard of his feelings and wishes wlien 
alive. 

" No one has any moral right to do fur him that which he 
always refused to do for himself — class liim anywhere as a 
theologian. He must be simply known as an ' eclectic Chris- 
tian,' to use his own terms ; and if this phrase is indefinite, it 
must be remembered that it has all the precision which he 
desired. On one point we may however be very explicit. He 
set his face like a flint against every form of sectarian exclu- 
siveness and bigotry, and was only intolerant toward those who 
ventured to judge any body of believers in Christ, and to deny 
them the Master's name. 

" Towards some views — more or less prevalent in New Eng- 
land of late years — he might have failed a little in preserving 
that ' Charity which is not easily provoked ' ; but on the whole, 
his Catholicism was a marked trait in liis character, which, often 
severely tried, was seldom found wanting. He was an earnest, 
plain preacher ; dealing generally with practical subjects, with- 
out seeking origiitality of thought, or being remarkable for any 
srraces of rhetoric. 



268 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

" Perhaps, as we have already hinted, had his quotations from 
Scripture been more sparing, his discourses would have gained 
more in clearness. Alluding to this feature in his sermons, a 
friend remarked lately to us, ' that Dr. Pierce certainly preached 
the Bible.' 

"' But his style was that of former days ; and few men have 
retained so much of their early acceptableness in the pulpit, 
owing to the impression he made upon his hearers of his own 
deep sincerity and unfeigned piety. You felt that he believed 
with his whole heart and soul everything he said, and was thor- 
oughly in earnest. It was, however, by the daily beauty of his 
life as the faithful pastor, that Dr. Pierce won the confidence 
and affection of his people With the same hearty sim- 
plicity he visited the rich and the poor, the refined and the un- 
learned, and though there were wide diversities in the social 
condition of the members of his society, there were none to 
charge him with partiality, none to doubt his friendliness and 
ready sympathies." 

His memory has been kept fresh, and is still dear to all 
who knew him ; and the recollections of the hallowed 
months of beautiful serenity and peace and faith, which 
made his sick room like the threshold of the heavenly 
kingdom, have been a ministry of holy influences to 
many souls. 

The following lines were written for the family of Dr. 
Pierce.* 

THE BURIAL. 

Listen ! the tolling bell 
Rolls its deep cadence on the summer air; 

And gathering mourners swell 
The waiting numbers in the house of prayer. 

Silence is on the throng, — 
Save the deep organ-tones so sadly sweet ; 

Why lingereth so long 
The pastor, ever wont his flock to meet? 

* Inserted here by request of his daughter, Miss A. L. Pierce. 



MR. PHILUUICK. 2G9 

Hush ! for he conieth now ! 
Cometh, — but not as in the (hiys gone by; 

Death's shadow marks his brow 
And leaves its dimness in the half-sliut eye. 

He cometh, — not as when 
His brisk, lirm tread was heard along the ai>le, — 

But borne by sorrowing men, 
And mourning liundreds hush their hearts the while. 

The solemn service o'er 
They bear him hence in silence and in tears; 

Never! no never more 
Those lips shall counsel as in other years. 

Never ! no never more ! 
Henceforth a void is left ! A shining light, 

A beacon from the shore 
Is quenched, and sorrow shades us as the night. 

Yet 'tis not quenched but gone I 
Leaving a blank where late hath shone a star, — 

But from the world unknown 
The distant heaven, it shineth yet afar. 

We mourn who loved him here. 
And who that knew him e'er could fail to love? 

Yet we would dry the tear 
And strive to meet him in the world above. 

The silverv locks are gone ! 
His voice can join our hymns of praise no more; 

Heaven hath an angel won; 
Father Divine ! Forgive if we deplore ! 

Ill the words of his colleague, in his funeral discourse: 
'' Simply thus to dwell upon the life of a good man is 
better than to have entered into a discussion of the mys- 
teries of godliness." 



MR. SAMUEL PHILBRICK. 
The story of the First Ciiurch, as it was forty or more 
years ago, would liardly be complete witliout some allu- 



270 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

sion to incidents connected with the rise and growth of 
the anti-slavery reform and the manner in which some of 
the congregation were aifected by it. Those who have 
come to mature years during or since the War of the Re- 
belhon can scarcely have any conception of the difficulties 
through which the people of New England, and even our 
own vicinity, were educated up to the point of willingness 
to see slavery destroyed. 

Mr. Samuel Philbrick, who was one of the pioneers in 
this reform at a time when a man must have had in him 
the courage and the perseverance of a martyr to dare 
identify himself with so unpopular a cause, was a wor- 
shipper at the First Church for years. 

He was born and educated among the Friends or Qua- 
kers, but did not identify himseK with them in later years, 
though his marriage was consummated according to the 
peculiar forms or usages of that sect. Mr. Philbrick 
never united with the Unitarian Church, as a member. 
He was a man of wealth and influence and occupied a 
central pew in the church. He was the friend of Gar- 
rison, May, Phillips, and others of the leading abolition- 
ists of those days, and his house was one of the w^ay- 
stations of " the underground railroad," which here and 
there gave brief shelter and rest for fugitives, on the way 
from Mason and Dixon's line to Canada. 

Friend Isaac T. Hopper, whose dehghtful biography 
by Mrs. Child will be read as long as slavery is a remem- 
bered blot on our history, was often a visitor at Mr. Phil- 
brick's house, and the Misses Grimke spent the winter of 
1836-37 in his family. 

These ladies, then young and wealthy, were the daugh- 
ters of Judge Grimke of South Carolina. They had 
grown up in acquaintance with the abominations of the 
slave-power, and had voluntarily left their home of 



THE MISSES GRIMKE. 271 

affluence to acquaint the people of the Xortli with tlio 
danger which was even then threatening the nation. 

They will be remembered by elderly people as the first 
ladies who spoke in public on this subject in this vicinity. 
Their first audience was composed of Brookline ladies as- 
sembled in Mr. Philbrick's parlors, which were thrown 
open for the purpose. It would have been impossible in 
the face of the prejudice of the times, to have obtained 
the Town Hall, or one of the churches for such a purpose. 
To have attempted it might have aroused a mob. 

The announcement of the meeting was b}^ cards of in- 
vitation sent to friends and acquaintances. At the ap- 
pointed time the apartments were filled with ladies onlv, 
but in an ante-room, out of sight but within hearing, sat 
John G. Whittier, now the beloved Quaker poet, an in- 
tensely interested listener. Whether his presence in the 
audience would have embarrassed the speaker, or the large 
compan}^ of ladies would have abashed the shy and sensi- 
tive poet we are not informed, but he heard and went his 
way with new and fresh inspiration to write his lyrics of 
liberty. 

During the winter which the ]\lisses Grimke spent in 
Mr. Philbrick's house, a friend of the family solicited the 
sympath}^ and help of j\lrs. Philbrick fur a free colored 
woman in a neighboring city who was struggling to sup- 
port herself and children. The result w^as that a little 
girl ten years of age was taken into the household to be 
made useful, and comfortably provided for. 

On the following Sunday she was taken to ciiun-li witli 
the family and seated in their own pew, wliere, owing to 
her small size, her head did not reach to the top rail. 

Mr. Philbrick had already incurred odium by identify- 
ing himself with the hated ''abolitionists," and small as 
was the cause in this instance, it was the '* fly in the pot 



272 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

of ointment," and conservative and aristocratic noses were 
elevated accordingly. 

Great was the discussion and wide-spread tlie excite- 
ment before another Sunday, and when the day came it 
was necessary for the timid child to walk to church be- 
side Mr. Philbrick's daughter that she might be protected 
from the insults of the boys. Even the children of the 
family were taunted by their school-fellows with being 
" hohoUtionists^^^ and annoyed in various ways. 

The family were seated in their accustomed places, when 
a member of the society who could not see the child from 
his own pew, though he rose and stretched himself up to 
discover her, sent one of his children down the aisle on 
which he sat and up the other to look into Mr. Philbrick's 
pew, to ascertain whether she was actually there. To 
his intense disgust he learned that she was, and rising he 
summoned his whole family and left the church. 

Viewed in the light of late events and modern times it 
seems too ridiculous to be true, and were it a solitary in- 
stance of negro-hatred it would not be historical. But it 
was the public sentiment of the times that was outraged, 
and the whole society, not to say all Brookline, was of- 
fended. It was a trying episode for Dr. Pierce, whose 
charitable spirit never allowed him to hate any human 
being because he was created of a different color or na- 
tionality from himself, and whose love of peace could ill 
endure a division and a quarrel among his people. More- 
over he, like many another conscientious man of those 
days, could see no way in which the agitation of the slavery 
question could be of practical benefit to the slaves, and 
his motto was, " When you know not what to do, be sure 
not to do you know not what." Mr. Philbrick, the friend 
of the Grimkes and Garrison, and the slave, was begin- 
ning a dangerous agitation by bringing even a free negro 



A FRIEND OF THE COLORED RACE. 273 

child into the house of God with her friends and protec- 
tors. His course must be met with a remonstrance. Be- 
fore another Sunday came he was waited upon by a com- 
mittee of the society, and requested for the sake of peace, 
to send the child, if he must bring her to church, into 
the negro pew. 

This, Mr. Philbrick politely but firmly declined to do. 
His stand on the negro question was taken, and he Avas 
not the man to commit the egregious inconsistency of not 
living up to it, nor to receive dictation as to the occupants 
of his pew. The little girl appeared at church again, and 
again the deeply exercised committee waited upon Mr. 
Philbrick, and more stringent arguments and exhorta- 
tions were brought to bear. The result was tliat Mr. 
Philbrick no longer felt inclined to worship where what 
he considered a most unchristian spirit was being aroused, 
and he with his family withdrew and never entered the 
meeting-house again, neither did one gentleman of the 
family who took such great offense. The rest returned 
to their allegiance. 

Mr. Philbrick continued to befriend the colored race 
whenever he could do so. 

The celebrated William and Ellen Crafts were con- 
cealed for days in a back chamber of that house while 
the United States Marshal and his officers were hunting 
Boston for them. They were first taken to the Searle 
house in Cypress Street, where Hon. Ellis Gray Loring 
was then living, but it being feared that suspicion would 
point to that locality, they were conveyed secretly to ]\Ir. 
Philbrick's, in the evening. After the hunt and excite- 
ment in Boston had somewhat subsided, the fugitives were 
removed from Mr. Philbrick's house by Theodore Par- 
ker, who with another gentleman and a lady, came in a 
cariage and started them on their Avay to Canada. 



274 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Mr. Philbrick outlived much of the odium attached to 
the name of '' aboUtionist," and saw their ranks swelled 
by thousands after the rendition of Anthony Burns. He 
died, however, in September, 1859, before the triumph of 
the principles for which he had sacrificed convenience and 
popularity. 

In less than ten years from that time his son was super- 
vising the industries and economies of the freedmen of 
South Carolina without molestation or hindrance. 

The ministry of Rev. Mr. Knapp, which continued seven 
years, was unmarked by any striking events. He was 
much beloved as a pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. Dr. 
Hedge in October, 1856. 

THE PARSONAGE. — POLLY HATCH. 

We now pass to the story of the parsonage. To do so 
we must go back to an early period in the history of the 
town. The ground which has for almost a century been 
the site of the parsonage, was from the earliest dates till 
about the middle of the last century the property of the 
Gardners. It came into possession of the heirs of Judge 
Sewall, and was presented by Mrs. Walcott, as a site 
for the parsonage of the First Church forever. The 
house, in which Dr. Pierce lived and died, Avas built in 
1781. It was first occupied by Rev. Joseph Jackson, who 
lived in it fifteen years. Dr. Pierce occupied it fifty-two 
years. It was refitted for Rev. Mr. Knapp, who lived in 
it during the whole of his ministry in this place. The 
new parsonage was built for Rev. Dr. Hedge, and the old 
one was sold and removed to Chestnut Place, where it still 
stands. 

Closely identified with the family of Dr. Pierce, during 
the greater part of his long ministry, was an humble 
woman, whose obscure life better deserves a memorial than 



POLLY HATCH. 275 

that of many a titled princess. To tell lier story we must 
antedate the settlement of the Pierce family in Brookline. 
In 1790 there came to Northampton, where the Tappan 
family resided, a country produce dealer, from Becket, 
who often supplied the people of that town with liis 
wares. He was in great trouble, having been burned out, 
and lost everything except his family of a dozen children, 
and he besought Mrs. Tappan to take one chikl and give 
her a home and make her useful. The good lady con- 
sented, and the man brought down with him the next time 
he came, a little girl of six years whose name was Re- 
becca Hatch. There was a Rebecca already in the 
family, and this child was called Polly. 

She soon discovered a wonderful aptitude for work, and 
a most grateful and affectionate devotion to the family, 
especially to ]\Iiss Lucy, who afterwards became Mrs. 
Pierce. The little girl learned to make bread when so 
small that she was obliged to stand upon a stool to 
knead it. 

AVhen Miss Tappan was married and came to Brook- 
line, as the wife of Dr. Pierce, Polly came with them, 
and from that da}", for forty years, no work was too hard 
and no sacrifice too great for this devoted servant and 
friend to make for them and theirs. Dr. Pierce's salary, 
as we have said, Avas but very small, and his family 
increased rapidly. Mrs. Pierce had enough to occupy 
her, with her domestic duties and tlie cares always be- 
longing to a clergyman's wife, and Polly counted nothing 
toilsome or irksome that she could do for the friends she 
loved so well. 

The little economies she practiced to help make the fam- 
ily income adequate were marvelous. 

Her wages were small, as was common in those days, 
yet she laid up little by little her scanty earnings, spend- 



2T6 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

ing almost nothing for dress, for which she seemed to care 
nothing, but wore whatever was given her by friends in 
the parish, and the relatives of the family. She was 
skilled in every branch of household work, and not only 
did faithfully the washing, ironing, cleaning, and cooking 
for the large family, but for years never slept without one 
child of the family under her care, and carried about a 
sickly infant of the family upon her hip, singing to it dur- 
ing her morning work. She was not required to do this, 
but chose to do it. At last there came to the family that 
saddest of misfortunes, a hopelessly imbecile and helpless 
child. Then shone out the beautiful spirit of devoted 
self-sacrifice which made Polly's life worthy to be written. 
She claimed poor unfortunate Benny as her charge, and 
took care of him for four years by niglit and day with 
untiring patience and love. The child was then sent from 
home to board for some years. At the age of eighteen 
he was taken home again as helpless as ever, and Polly 
resumed her care of him as before. 

Yet she never abated her energy in other directions, 
but went on with all the household work, in a manner that 
made her name a synonym for efficiency, in the parish 
as well as in the family, and the idea that she was equal 
to almost any emergency Avas laughably illustrated in a 
curious incident. 

When the church was struck by lightning, August 12, 
1834, there was a town meeting being held in the old stone 
Town House. A venerable gentleman, who was one of 
the Selectmen, ran down to the parsonage, calling out 
" Polly ! Polly ! Polly ! " As if Polly could put out a fire 
on the roof of the meeting-house. The fire was extin- 
guished without serious damage. 

The terrors of the fire which deprived her of her home 
in her childhood so impressed her mind that she never 



POLLY HATCH. 277 

retired at niglit till she had seen the last light extin- 
guished, not even trusting Dr. Pierce himself to take care 
of the fire and lights. Long before the dawn of day she 
was at her tasks ; })leasure-seeking, in the connnon accep- 
tation of the term, she entirely ignored. She was always 
cheerful, hut she found her pleasure in serving others. In 
the goodness of her heart she used to go on Mondays, 
once a month, to the church and sweep it, before the Sun- 
day fires were out, to assist Mr. Stone, the sexton, be- 
cause he was poor, and had many young children, and her 
assistance would save his time for his business as a car- 
penter. 

^lany a longed-for toy, or book, or pleasure which the 
children of the family would have otherwise been obliged 
to forego, was purchased out of Polly's little store. All 
these years she had heard no word from her own rela- 
tives. They seemed to forget or give her up entirely, 
having moved out of the State, and she did not even know 
whither they went. Polly had several lovers in her youth, 
plain though she was, and quaint and antiquated in her 
dress at all times. But she met none of their advances 
with favor, her heart seeming to remain untouched. 
With all her hard work and plain appearance, and nar- 
row round of duties, Polly was not an ignorant woman, 
though she had little school education. But she was cul- 
tivated in her taste for books, and had an innate refine- 
ment which shrank from coarseness of any kind. Her 
knowledge of books was acquired more by listening than 
by reading, as she delighted in having the children of 
the family come to the kitchen and read aloud while 
she pursued her various avocations. Often they followed 
her from room to room, reading Scott, or other autliors 
to her. In this way she learned and could repeat from 
memory large portions of *' Marmion,'' '' The Lady of the 



278 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Lake," " Lord of the Isles," the whole of Parnell's " Her- 
mit," and much of the poetry of other authors. 

An evidence of her remarkable memory was discovered 
in her early youth, wdien she was living with the Taj^pan 
family at Northampton. Mr. Lucas, a Brookline gentle- 
man, came to that town with Dr. Pierce. He was on his 
way to Deerfield, and he told the young folks of the 
Tappan family that if any one of them would commit 
to memory the twenty-sixth chapter of the book of Acts, 
so as to repeat it to him on his return, verbatim^ he would 
give the successful one a silver dollar. All the children 
tried, but only Polly won the prize. 

When some of Dr. Pierce's daughters were in their 
gay days of youth, there was a sleighing party in the 
winter, to which they were invited by young gentlemen 
from Cambridge. After the party had been gone some 
hours, a sudden and severe snow-storm came on. It 
proved to be so formidable that the young people started 
for home, but the snow blocked the roads so that the 
horses could scarcely make their way through it. Polly 
sat up waiting their return with fire and lights. 

Before they came, the snow lay two feet deep between 
the front door and the street. Twice, she went out alone 
in the dark and driving storm, and shoveled a path from 
the door to the gate. But her benevolence did not stoj) 
there. She knew it would be impossible for the young 
gentlemen to reach Cambridge that night, and the horses 
must be taken care of. She therefore made her way Avith 
a lantern, to the barn, and actually shoveled away the 
snow which prevented the door from being opened, and 
when the young people arrived past midnight, chilled 
through, and the exhausted horses ready to drop, she 
had all things in readiness for the "entertainment of 
man and beast," took care of them all herself, in spite 



Polly's self-sacrifice. 279 

of every remonstrance, and was on the alert early in the 
morning as if nothing nnusual had happened. 

Nothing ever seriously disturbed or made licr unhappy 
but opposition in her self-sacrifice for the family. If 
refused, or prevented from carrying out her purposes in 
this respect, her quickly starting tears bore evidence how 
genuine Avas the feeling that prompted them. 

Her practice of often spending money f(jr the young 
people of the family was sometimes very embarrassing 
to them, but no remonstrance was of any avail. In this 
particular she would have her own Avay. An inconven- 
ience always severely felt at the parsonage was the want 
of a cistern to hold soft water. Dr. Pierce at one time 
went away upon a journey, and during his absence, Polly 
secured the cooperation of Capt. Benjamin Bradley, who 
was a carpenter, and before the Doctor's return, a cistern 
was built for the sum of fifty dollars, and paid for out 
of Polly's money. When the Doctor came home, and 
learned what had been done, he insisted upon paying 
Polly for the outlay at once. But she burst into tears, 
insisted that she had had it done for her own convenience, 
and a pleasant surprise to him, and that it would break 
her heart if he insisted upon it further. The matter 
was allowed to drop, but a long time afterwards the Doc- 
tor found an opportunity of making it up to her. 

At the marriage of each of Dr. Pierce's children, a 
present was bestowed upon the bride by Polly, quite 
equal to the gifts of other friends, in those times. x\t 
the birth of each grandchild, till there were ten, she 
deposited in the bank five dollars for the new comer. 
This practice Dr. Pierce positively forbade, but it was 
vain to tr}^ to prevent the devoted creature from im- 
poverishing herself for others. 

At one time when a poor divinity student, who liad 



280 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

been often to see the Doctor, was leaving the house, the 
Doctor inquired why he wore no overcoat on so cold a 
day. He confessed that he had none. Polly overheard 
the conversation. Shortly afterwards, the young man 
received a present of a new overcoat. It was Polly's 
gift, but the recipient never knew whence it came, and 
even the family were not aware of this act of generosity 
for many years. It was finally disclosed by the person 
whom she deputed to make the purchase. 

In 1830, when Polly had lived in the family of Dr. 
Pierce nearly thirty years, a person from a neighboring 
town, who had been on a trip to western New York, 
called to see Dr. Pierce, to inquire respecting her. He 
had met with a brother of hers, who finding that lie was 
from the vicinity of Boston, made inquiries respecting 
" Rev. Mr. Pierce," who had taken Polly from Northamp- 
ton. It was over twenty years since she had known 
whether she had a relative living. It was washing-day, 
and Polly stood at the tub, when the Doctor announced 
the startling news that she had two brothers and a sister 
living, and that they had taken the trouble to inquire 
respecting her. Polly was like one thunderstruck. She 
stood in silence for a moment, and then fell senseless 
upon the floor. It was some time before consciousness 
returned, and the manner in which she was affected was 
the more remarkable, from the fact that she was never 
known to faint before. Nothing would satisfy her but 
she must go and see her kindred, wholly forgetful of 
their long indifference to her. Her visits had been con- 
fined to annual trips to Boston all those many years, but 
nothing daunted, she set out on her journey, found her 
people, made them a four weeks' visit, and then returned 
to the parsonage. 

A few years after, Polly asked leave of absence for a 



POLLY HATCH LEAVES THE PARSONAGE. 281 

whole year. This was granted, and she went to her 
friends, and devoted herself to their interests with hcv 
time and money. 

At the expiration of that time she returned. I'olly 
had scarcely ever had a letter in her lifetime, but now 
letters began to come, regularly and often, so that one 
day tlie Doctor returning from the post-office witli a h't- 
ter, said jokingly, as he delivered it, " What is tlie mat- 
ter, Polly ? Are you enr/aged ? " " Yes sir," said Polly, 
meekly, and burst into tears. 

Had the earth opened in front of the parsonage, the 
astonishment would scarcely have been greater. Polly, 
almost fifty-nine years of age, and as mueh identified 
with the parsonage as one of the rafters, about to launch 
her fortunes on the uncertain sea of matrimony I 

It is doubtful if any engagement since then has created 
a greater sensation in the little circle concerned. 

A lonely widower, a New York Dutchman, by the name 
of Schermerhorn, had found the way to Polly's sympa- 
thies, he was ''so lonesome and she pitied him so; " yet 
warmly as her heart went out toward him, there Wiis a 
link at the old parsonage that must not be broken. 

There was poor Benny, and the infatuated lover could 
not have Polly without he would take Benny also, if ^the 
pastor's family would consent to let him go. ^ 

The terms for his board were agreed upon, satisfac- 
torily to all parties. It was a service such as money 
could not buy, and only pure love could suggest, and as 
such it was appreciated by the family. The difficulty of 
removing him was less than might be sui)posed, as he 
had never grown beyond the size of a delicate child 
of twelve years. Polly's lover was about seventy years 
of age, and too feeble to make the long journey to take 
his bride ; and it was arranged that her nephew should 
19 



282 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

come on and take her and her helpless charge to their 
destination. 

Polly had to undergo some bantering respecting the 
arrangement of going to her lover, instead of being car- 
ried thither as a bride by himself, but her serenity could 
not be disturbed, and she made her preparations, and 
bade farewell to Brookline and the parsonage forever. 

She was married in her husband's own house, October 
1, 1843. When she had been married a year, she wrote 
her old friends, that she was " more troubled by the bad 
grammar spoken by the people around her than by any- 
thing else." Trouble of that nature would be as light 
as one could reasonably expect in this life, it would seem. 

From that time forward, Polly was visited once a year 
oy one or more of Dr. Pierce's family, greatly to her 
delight. Her devotion to poor Benny continued unre- 
mitting, and her husband — who seemed so adapted to 
Polly's own heart, that one could well apply to them the 
adage, respecting the celestial origin of matches — was 
as kind to him as she could desire. 

After six years, when Benny was thirty-two years of 
age, he was found one morning, dead in his bed, having 
given no signs of illness. The same Providence which 
had mysteriously darkened his intellect, and made his 
earthly life a blank, had doubtless wakened him to the 
full joys of a complete existence; for if He careth for' 
the sparrows when they fall, surely He careth for such. 

Mr. Schermerhorn was a Methodist, and held daily 
family worship. It was his practice to sing a long hymn 
after reading the Scriptures. Polly could not sing a note, 
but she sat beside her old husband, who held her hand 
in his, and gazed up in his face with a love and reverence 
that redeemed the situation from ludicrousness, and might 
have gone far toward convincing youthful skepticism. 



Polly's death and i:riTArii. 283 

that the heart never grows old. Thus they lived for 
twenty years, and then the tie which had united this 
peculiar pair Avas broken by the death of the wife. Polly 
died of congestion of the lungs, in December, 18G8, the 
same disease of which ]\lrs. Pierce, after years of serene 
and beautiful old age, had died not long before. 

Her life had been one long, devoted service to others. 
Those who disbelieve in pure, unselfish love, and deny 
the existence of disinterested benevolence, may make 
what they can of the simple, unvarnished story of Polly's 
life. 

One cannot but wonder how such a nature could be 
happy in heaven with no misery there to alleviate, no 
sorrow with which to sympathize, and no laborious ser- 
vices to perform. 

Three years later the widower followed the partner 
for whom he sincerely mourned, and a memorial stone 
marks the last resting-place of Polly and her husband, 
and poor Benn}^ 

The one text for an epitaph, fitting for her memory, 
sujXiJfested itself to the minds of her old friends at the 
parsonage, and was inscribed upon the stone : " Many 
daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them 
all.'' 



284 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE GARDNER FAMILY AND HOUSES. THE BOYLSTON, OR 

HYSLOP PLACE (cOLONEL LEE's). THE ACKERS PLACE. 

OLD INDIAN BURIAL PLACE. (>i7U*| « ^yl«-^ > 'T'-e^w^K^A.*^ '^/^ 

npHE ancient Gardners of Brookline were large land- 
-^ owners, and once formed no inconsiderable part of the 
population. As they were chiefly gathered near the 
church and parsonage, though some branches of the fam- 
ily settled further off, perhaps this is the proper place to 
introduce them. 

The early inhabitants of Brookline were recorded on 
the documents of the town of Roxbury as often or oftener 
than on those of Boston. The Gardners are traceable, in 
births, marriages, and deaths, on the Roxbury records. 
The name of Thomas occurs earliest and oftenest, like 
Robert among the Sharps, Ebenezer among the Davises, 
and Samuel, among the- Clarks. 

The first Thomas Gardner died in 1639, being " an 
householder." He of course was an Englishman, and 
from the records it would seem that he was the head of 
the large and wide-spread family which bears his name. 

The second Thomas Gardner, son of the above, was 
also born in England. He married Lucy Smith of Rox- 
bury in 1641, and settled in Brookline. He was a mem- 
ber of the Roxbury Church in 1650, and paid an annual 
tax of thirteen shillings for the support of a Roxbury 
school. This was probably kept in the ancient school- 
house which formerly stood where the gas-works now are, 
as that part of Brookline was then in Roxbury. This 



THE GARDNER FAMILY. 285 

man being the father of eight chihlren, would doubtless 
take an interest in the support of the scliooL No scliool 
was then kept m Muddy River. 

In 1672, wlien the people of Roxbury decided to build 
" a nue Metting-hous/* and permit the people of '^ Mudi- 
river " to share in its privileges if they would bear one 
fifth of the expense, we find the list of Brookline tax- 
payers for this object headed by Thomas Gardner, who 
paid ten pounds, that being the largest amount paid by 
any man in the place. The amount raised was £104 13s. 
His brother Andrew paid five pounds. 

Thomas Gardner died in 1G81>. He left a will provid- 
ing for his sons Thomas and Joshua, and his four daugh- 
ters who survived. His daughter IMary had married 
Tliomas Boylston, one of the earliest of an old Brookline 
family. The school mentioned above was kej^t by An- 
drew Gardner, probably a nephew of Thomas, in 1008. 

Andrew Gardner's son Andrew, was a preacher in Lan- 
caster in 109(3. He was accidentally shot by a soldier in 
that town in 1704. The account given in the '' Boston 
News Letter," is as follows : — 

" Boston. In our Number 28, as we then received it, we gave 
you tlie account of the Death of the Rev. Mr. Gardner, Minister 
of Lancaster ; and having since had a perfect and exact account 
of the same from Eye and Ear witnesses ; we tliought it expe- 
dient to insert it here, to prevent various reports thereof. And 
is as follows : — 

" That a man being killed the day before, between Groton 
and Lancaster, and the Indians being seen the night before nigh 
the town, Mr. Gardner, (three of the men belonging to his 
Garrison being gone out of Town, and two of the remaining 
three being tyred with Watching and Travelling in the Woods 
after the Indians that day), being a very careful as well as 
courageous man, concluded to watch that night himself; and ac- 



286 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

cordingly went out into the little watch-house that was over the 
Flankers, and there stayed till late in the night, whence and when 
he was coming down (as it was thought) to warm him. The 
man that shot him, who was not long before sleeping by the fire, 
came out and whether between sleeping and waking, or sur- 
prised with an excess of fear, fired upon him as he was coming 
down out of the watch-house through a little trap-door into the 
Flanker, where no man having the exercise of his Reason could 
suspect the coming of an enemy, or suspect him to be so when 
in a clear Moonlight he was so nigh him. 

" Mr. Gardner (though his wound was in his Breast being 
shot through the vitals), came to the door, bid them open it for 
he was wounded ; after he came in he fainted away, but coming 
to himself again, asked who it was that shot him, and when they 
told him he prayed God to forgive him, and forgave him himself, 
for he believed he did not do it on purpose ; and with a com- 
posed Christian frame of spirit, desired them that were bitterly 
lamenting over him not to weep but to pray for him, and com- 
forted his sorrowful wife, telling her he was going to Glory, ad- 
vising her to follow him ; and in about an hour Dyed, leaving his 
sorrowful friends to lament the loss of so worthy and desirable 
a person." * 

Thomas, another of the sons of the first Andrew, was a 
captain in the Canada expedition, under Sir William 
Phipps, in 1690, in which he lost his life, as did Robert 
Sharp, and other Brookline men. 

The third Andrew Gardner born in this town was a 
graduate of Harvard College, in 1712, and was ordained 
minister of Worcester in 1719. He was subsequently 
settled in Lunenburg, but after his removal from that 
town in 1732 we lose trace of him. 

Peter Gardner, brother of the second Thomas, was also 
a resident of this town, and had a large family of children. 
His son Samuel was killed by the Indians when nineteen 
years of age. 

* Boston Neivs Letter, No. 31, November 20, ITOl. 



BURNING OF JOSHUA GARDNER'S HOUSE. 287 

There was also a Thomas, but the third Thomas in the 
reguUir Hue of succession, born in 1676, bore a more prom- 
inent part in the affairs of the town, and was chosen first 
deacon of the First Church. Of him we have more to 
say hereafter. 

Joshua Gardner, his brother, married jNIary, daughter 
of John Weld of Roxbury, in 1681. His house stood a 
little east of the present parsonage on ground now belong- 
ing to Mr. Kennard. This house of i\Ir. Joshua Gard- 
ner, according to Judge Sewall's journal, was burnt on 
the night of Sunday, January 11, 1691, and two of his 
children perished in the flames. What a glimpse of do- 
mestic vicissitude in those early days this incident thus 
barely and briefly mentioned, opens to the imagination. 
How did the fire originate ? Where were the parents ? 
Who came to help, on seeing the red light of the flames 
above the tliick woods, for there was neither bell, nor en- 
gine, nor means of relief — and why were the little ones 
not saved, curiosity asks in vain. Nearly a year later, 
the Judge enters in his journal the following, under date 
of December 21 : — 

" Went with Mr. Addington and wife to the new house of 
Joshua Gardner, where were Mr. Walter and wife, Mr. Denni- 
son and wife, Sir Ruggles and Mrs. AYeld. At dinner Mr. 
Walter asked the blessing, and Mr. Dennison returned thanks 
on account of completing their new house." 

This J\lr. Walter was the Rev. Nehemiah Walter, then 
minister of the church on Roxbury Hill. Sir Haggles 
Weld was doubtless Mrs. Gardner's uncle. In this house 
lived afterwards the Caleb Gardner who gave the land 
for the First Church. 

It was a little singular that when Brookline was thinly 
inhabited, and fire by no means a common occurrence, 



288 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

three different dwelling-houses owned and occupied, by 
the Gardners should have been burned. Mr. Nathaniel 
Gardner, a son of the deacon previously mentioned, was a 
merchant in Boston, and lived in a house on the spot now 
occupied by the house of Mr. Chapin opposite the Reser- 
voir. The Boston " News-Letter " of April 17, 1740, con- 
tains the following : — 

"Last Monday, a. m. 14 April 1740, the house of Nathaniel 
Gardner of Brookline, next to the Meeting-house in that town 
took fire and was burned down, but most of the household goods 
saved. It was occasioned by a chimney's being on fire, the 
sparks falling on the roof catched in the shingles, which being 
very dry burnt so violently, as 'twas impossible to put a stop 
thereto." 

The third Gardner house which was burnt was that of 
Isaac Gardner in Brighton Street, of which an account 
was given in the account of that street. He was a 
grandson of Deacon Thomas Gardner. 

We now return to Deacon Thomas Gardner, also called 
Lieutenant (probably in the Indian wars). His name 
is one of the first on the petition for a separation of this 
town from Boston. He was evidently a man of property 
and much influence. He married Mary Bowles, daughter 
of Elder John Bowles, and had seven children. In 1718 
he built the old house now owned by the Goddard heirs, 
and occupied by George W. Stearns. His three sons, 
Solomon, Caleb, and Benjamin successively owned and 
occupied it after him. Benjamin was succeeded in it by 
his son Deacon Elisha Gardner, who however sold the 
place to Mr. John Goddard, and removed to the old Wal- 
ley house, — it was new then, however, — where he sj)ent 
the rest of his days, and died in 1797. Captain Benja- 
min Gardner having left the house above mentioned, to 



THE GARDNKR FAMILY. 289 

liis son, built a house for himself etirly in tlu' last century, 
on Heath Street, almost to Newton line, next the house 
known as the old Richards Tavern. He died in 1TG2, 
leaving the house to his son Samuel, who, however, died 
about ten years afterwards at the age of forty-three. His 
son Caleb, then only sixteen years of age, Avas the next 
heir. The Revolutionary AVar Avas coming on, and the 
boy, too young to bear arms, but too old to submit to stay 
l)eaeefully at home in those exciting days, went as attend- 
ant upon (leneral Wesson, and followed his fortunes dur- 
ing the various campaigns in which he engaged. After 
the war was over he returned, married ^lary Jackson of 
Newton, and settled upon the old place. He died in 
180T, at the age of fifty-two. His widow lived to be 
ninety-two. Of his six children, the wife of Deacon 
Timothy Corey was one, and two of the other daughters 
are still living in this town. His son Samuel Jackson 
Gardner was a graduate of Harvard College, class of 
1807, having, after such advantages as the Brookline 
schools could give, been fitted for college at Leicester 
Academ3\ He made the law his profession, and for 
twenty years did a prosperous business in Roxbury, which 
town he represented in the Legislature. He subsequently 
removed to Newark, N. J., where he became editor of the 
'' Newark Daily Advertiser." He was an old Whig, a 
Unitarian of the Channing school, and possessed a mind 
peculiarly adapted to the pursuits of literature. Genial, 
witty, and versatile, he AVon hosts of friends. He died 
while on a visit to the White INIountains, in July, 18(34, 
aged seventy-six, and was brought to Brookline, und laid 
in the Gardner tomb. 

His son. Dr. Augustus Gardner, still living in New 
York, is the last male descendant of this line of the old 
Gardner family. He is known as the author of several 



290 HISTORICAL sketchp:s of brookline. 

books, on various subjects, among which is a treatise on 
" Copper," also a book of foreign travel, entitled '' New 
Wine in Old Bottles," 

The ancient house of Capt. Benjamin Gardner, still 
standing on Heath Street, is shaded by a grand old elm, 
which was set out and protected by the Gardners of the 
last century. 

The ancient house in which Deacon Thomas Gardner 
lived in his last days, and where he died, was sold as 
above mentioned, by his grandson. Deacon Elisha Gard- 
ner, to Mr. John Goddard, the father of the late Ben- 
jamin Goddard, and has ever since been in that family. 

The land which originally belonged to Caleb Gardner, 
after his father's death, and was attached to the house 
now occupied by George W. Stearns, included all the 
Goddard lands, and Bradley's Hill (before Mr. Walley's 
time), extending northward to the brook, and eastward 
to Cypress Street, as when Cypress Street was laid out 
it was ordered, that it should run " through the land of 
Thomas Cotton, and thence through the land belonging 
to Caleb Gardner. 

As Boylston Street was not laid out till within the 
present century, the old Gardner house, standing just at 
the curve of the old Sherburne road, had only green fields 
and thick woods lying about it, there being no other 
house in sight, except Nathaniel Gardner's house, — on 
the site of the present residence of Mr. Chapin. 

Deacon Gardner built his house for two centuries at 
least, judging from the substantial work he put into it. 
There is very little cellar room, for the good reason 
that nearly all that might have been cellar is chimney- 
work. The three stacks of chimneys contain bricks 
enough for a moderate-sized modern house. The walls 
of the house are laid in large coarse brick, plastered with 



DEACON Gardner's house. 291 

clay, between the outside iind inside, to the very roof. 
The immense timbers are of solid oak, as are also the 
floors. The rooms are sheathed with paneled wood- 
work, presenting a painted surface, Avliieh might well 
dismay a modern housekeeper. The doors are braced 
with long and strong iron hinges, reaching half across 
their width, and some of them were opened by great 
wooden latches which lifted by a string, one of which 
remains till the present time. Closets of all sorts in 
most unexpected places, were planned for the good 
housewife's convenience. Each of the front rooms had 
a recess, closed up with doors of i)aneled wood-work, 
concealing a bed turned up against the wall. A deep 
window seat was also provided with a cover to lift, dis- 
closing a box or chest ; the fire-place in this room is sur- 
rounded by blue and white Dutch tiles, covered with the 
most grotesque illustrations of Scripture history. Nearly 
all are perfectly intelligible, but in a few the " high 
art," baffles modern ingenuity to explain. The L on the 
north side was at first but one story high, and a second 
story window in the main house, which looked in that 
direction, was of diamond panes in leaden sash, evidently 
brought from England, as the house was built long be- 
fore glass was made in this country, — this w^indow is now 
closed up. Trap-doors in the floors, in the second story, 
indicate the method of '' getting up stairs," before stairs 
Avere built. After the present occupants had lived twenty- 
one years in the house, a secret room in the second story 
was discovered. It was perfectly dark, and only acces- 
sible by a ladder, after removing a sliding board. No 
time Avas lost in exploring the unknowni apartment, but 
nothing was found except an ancient sword, bearing a 
device, which might be explained by one who under- 
stands heraldrv. It mav have been the coat-(jf-arms of 



292 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

the old English Gardners. This room had been used by 
former occupants of the house as a place for secreting 
valuables, but had been forgotten, or never mentioned, 
so that its discovery by the present occupants was a 
complete surprise. Further investigation during the prog- 
ress of some alterations, which were being made for 
convenience' sake, resulted in the exhuming of an old 
cannon ball, from between the chimney and the beams, 
where it had lain for perhaps a century. Samuel Park- 
man was a resident of this house for several years. Hon. 
Jonathan Mason made it his country seat for several 
summers. These residents hired it of the late Benjamin 
Goddard. Scores of people have been born under this 
humble roof, and very many have been carried out 
through its doorway to their last narrow house. Per- 
haps none of these thus indicated, have brought more 
honor to an humble home than George Theodore Stearns, 
the eldest son of the present tenant, who went at his 
country's summons to defend the imperiled government 
in the late Rebellion. Opposed in taste and principles 
to war and fighting, he did not volunteer, but when 
drafted, no persuasion could induce him to send a substi- 
tute, " because," he said, " he would peril no other man's 
life to save his own, if his country needed his services." 
He went like a hero, and like a hero fell, in the blood 
and fire of the Wilderness. He was carried from the 
scene of carnage to a Washington hospital, where he 
lingered a little while, and then passed on to his reward, 
as truly a martyr for conscience' sake, as a Reformer 
burned at the stake. 

The gambrel-roofed house, opposite the Reservoir, now 
occupied by Mr. Chapin, was built in 1740, by Nathan- 
iel Gardner, the same year that his first house was de- 
stroyed by fire. It was afterwards owned by Deacon 



"• MANDAMUS COUNSELOR." 293 

Benjamin White, who was contemporary witli Thomas 
Gardner in the office of deacon of the First Church. 

The next owner was Jeremiah Gridley, Esq., a grad- 
uate of Harvard University in 1725. lie was a lawyer 
of note, so much so that President J. Q. Adams spoke 
of him as among the most distinguished in his profession. 
He several times represented the town in the State Legis- 
hiture, and held various other offices of trust and impor- 
tance in the town. He lived a single life, and died in the 
liouse of which we are writing, in ITGT, at the age of 
sixty-five. Dr. Pierce quotes Ilev. Dr. Elliott, author 
of ''New England Biography," as saying, ''that his 
legal knowledge was unquestionable;" but adds, "he 
died poor because he despised wealth.^'' 

The next person who inhabited the house was Henry 
Hulton, ]\Iandamus Counselor for the British Govern- 
ment. He was one of the five commissioners appointed 
by Parliament to receive the revenue derived from the 
odious stamp act, and the tax on tea, paints, etc. He 
arrived in Boston, " clothed with a little brief authority," 
in November, 1767. He purchased the liouse in ques- 
tion for his country-seat, and spent his summers here, 
and his winters in Boston. 

Parties of British officers often rode out to his house — 
and their visits kept the people of Br^okline in a constant 
state of irritation. As one after another of the hated 
acts were passed, and the spirit of rebellion burned deeper 
in the hearts of the people, the " IMandamus Coun- 
selor," who was quietly pocketing their money for King 
George, grew more and more distasteful, till finally the 
boys of Brookline assembled and smashed liis windows. 
The father of the late Charles Heath was one of the par- 
ty. One can imagine the gusto with which they «lid it, 
and the satisfaction they felt going home. Very likely 



294 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

they were wholesomely reproved by their parents for an 
act which so far as it went was the outgrowth of the same 
spirit which marshalled their fathers on Lexington Green 
a few months later. 

Counselor Hulton subsequently took up his quarters 
in Boston till the Colonists made that place too hot for 
him, and then he returned to England, and his Brookline 
property was forfeited to the government, he being a ref- 
ugee. Two or three other owners, of no special note, 
followed, each occupying the place but a short time, and 
then it was for several years owned by William Hyslop, a 
wealthy gentleman. His estate included land afterwards 
owned by the Murdocks on Warren Street, and now a 
part of the grounds of Ignatius Sargent, Esq. He gave 
to the town the triangular piece of ground in the fork of 
the roads, west of the church, for a site for the old brick 
school-house in 1793. 

Next came John Carnes, who owned the land on the 
hill in the rear of the Unitarian Church, and of him the 
society purchased the building lot in 1805. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Partridge, a wealthy widow, was the 
next occupant, and then came Thomas Sumner, Esq., who 
lived there many years, and ended his days under its roof. 
He was one of the Selectmen of Boston when Boston was 
a town. He used to relate an incident which occurred 
when he held that office, when at the March meeting one 
after another left, till only twenty men remained. The 
annual appropriations had been left till the last article, 
and this important business for the great town was dis- 
posed of by these twenty. 

The results might have been startling under some cir- 
cumstances, but we do not know that any harm arose 
from*it. 

Mr. Sumner's land extended as far as where the parson- 



THE BOWDITCH PLACE. 295 

age land begins, on Walnut Street. It was well siii)plied 
with fruit trees, and the kindly disposed old gentleman 
gained popularity with the boys of the stone school-house 
and j^rotected his fruit, by appropriating a sweet apple tree, 
and two or tliree cherry trees exclusively to their use. 

He took delifj^ht in seeincf a tree full of boys shoutinir 
with pleasure, as they availed themselves of his generos- 
ity, and neither bored them with lectures on the dangers 
of climbino" nor cautioned them about break! nijj the limbs 
of the trees, but gave them the unchecked freedom of the 
trees. Tlie boy would have been tabooed by his school- 
fellows who could have been mean enough to touch other 
than the tree thus generously assigned them. 

Mr. Sumner occasionally appeared on the great rock 
next the sidewalk, nearly opposite the school-house, with 
pockets laden with apples which he tossed among the boys 
to see them scramble for them. 

His white locks and affable manners will always be 
kindly remembered by the boys whom he thus propitiated, 
as well as by many others. 

NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE RESERVOIR, THE BOYLSTON 

PLACE. 

On the site of the present residence of Mrs. Bowditcli, 
near the Reservoir, formerly stood a large house, owned 
and occupied by Richard Sullivan, Esq. He was succeeded 
by Judge Jackson. He was judge of the Supreme Court 
ten yeai*s. He also rendered important services on the 
Commission which reported the Revised Statutes of ]\Iassa- 
chusetts, in 1835.* Both these gentlemen were distin- 
guished for their elegance of manner and genial traits, as 
well as for high culture, and the house was the resort of 
many distinguished persons. The place was next owned 

* Allen's American Biographical Dictionary. 



296 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. ^ 

by the late John E. Thayer, Avho removed the old house 
and made preparations for building a new one, when the 
work of constructing the Brookline Reservoir was com- 
menced, and it was thought it would damage the location, 
and consequently he chose a new site and built upon War- 
ren Street. Mr. Benjamin Howard of Boston next pur- 
chased this fine place, built the present house, and lived 
here eleven years. During the time of his residence here, 
his son Chandler Howard, at that time a rising young 
merchant, widely known, and much beloved foi* the excel- 
lence of his character, lost his life by an accident with his 
horse while riding to Boston over the Mill-dam. Within 
a few years after, a sister of Mr. Howard met the same 
fate in almost the same way, while riding near the Cook 
place on Warren Street. Two such tragedies in one 
family in a short time, were enough to overshadow the 
brightest household, and the remnant of the family left 
Brookline not long afterwards. The place was then pur- 
chased by its present owners. 

The ground now covered by the Reservoir was a large 
meadow lying lower than the level of the street. The 
embankment on the side next the street is wholly arti- 
ficial. Instead of being a disadvantage to the vicinity as 
many persons feared, the great improvement caused by 
the Reservoir is apparent to all. 

The part of Boylston Street^ from the gate-house of the 
Reservoir to the junction of Heath Street and Brighton 
Street, it should be remembered is a part of the old road, 
and was merely widened when the turnpike was built, but 
was not turned from its course. On the north side of it, 
between these points, are three very old and interesting 
places. 

The large, old-fashioned wooden house on Boylston 
Street, opposite the westerly end of the Reservoir, now 



INTRODUCTION OF INOCULATION. 297 

owned by Henry Lee, Esq., was known for many years 
as the old Boylston house, — afterwards, for many years 
more, as the Hyslop phice. It is one of the most interest- 
ing historical places in the town. 

Thomas Boylston came to this country from England 
and settled in Watertown in 1G35. His son Thomas, 
born in that town in 16-14, became a surgeon. He took 
an active part in the Narragansett war. He married Mary 
Gardner of Muddy River, in 16G5, and settled upon the 
place Avliich we are describing, and from tliat tiuie for- 
Avard the Boylstons were identified with Brookline. There 
w^ere twelve children of this marriage. His son Peter in- 
herited the homestead. One of the daughters, Susanna, 
married John Adams, of Braintree, and was the mother 
of John Adams, second President of the United States. 
The second child of Dr. Thomas Boylston, was the emi- 
nent Dr. Zabdiel Boylston, born in 1680, who acquired 
wide celebrity and at first a most unenviable one, by the 
introduction of inoculation for the small-pox. His memoir 
has been written, and is full of interest.* The small-pox 
was making fearful ravages in Boston in 1721, when the 
Rev. Cotton Mather communicated to Dr. Boylston an 
account of the transactions of the Royal Society respect- 
ing inoculation as practiced in Turkey. Instead of allow- 
ing the disease to be taken in its natural way, the chances 
being that more than one sixth of the patients would die, 
the matter was forestalled by preparing the system for it 
by medical treatment and then scarifying the skin and 
applying the virus under a nutshell. Under inoculation 
it was seldom that a patient lost his life. The practice 
was not even begun in England when Cotton jNIather sug- 
gested it to Dr. Boylston for experiment. He introduced 
the subject to the attention of other physicians in Boston 

* See American Med. B'wrjrajyhy, by J. Thacher. 
20 



298 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

and vicinity, and was met with violent opposition ; the 
medical men, both in this country and in England, taking 
the ground that it was a crime which came under the 
classification of poisoning, while the clergy preached 
against it, and wrote pamphlets, arguing that the small- 
pox was a judgment from God for the sins of the people, 
and that to try to check its sway would only ^'' 'provoke 
Him the more.'" 

A sermon was preached by a Rev. Mr. Massey, in 
1722, against '' The Dangerous and Sinful Practice of 
Inoculation," from the text, " So Satan went forth from 
the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils 
from the sole of his foot unto his crown," — from whence 
he argued that the Devil was the first inoculator and Job 
his fit^st patient. Some fifty years afterward an epigram 
appeared in the " Monthly Miscellany," on this sage 
opinion of the Rev. Mr. Massey, as follows : — 

" We're told by one of the black robe, 
The Devil inoculated Job ; 
Suppose 'tis true, what he does tell, 
Pray neighbors, did not Job do well ? " 

The inhabitants of Boston and vicinity became so 
excited, that men patrolled the streets with halters, in 
search of the Doctor, threatening to hang him to the 
nearest tree. The Doctor was secreted fourteen days in 
his own house, in a hiding-place known only to his wife. 
During this time the house was repeatedly searched for 
him, by day and by night, without success. One 
evening, a hand-grenade was dashed through the par- 
lor window, where his wife and children were sitting. 
Fortunately the fuse was knocked off against a piece 
of furniture, and the family escaped death. 

The Doctor could only visit his patients in the night, 
and in disguise. Yet, notwithstanding all this violence. 



DR. ZABDIEL BOYLSTON. 299 

he was brave enough to persevere with his experiments, 
being sanguine of success. He inoculated his own child 
and two servants, and though they all had the disease 
mildly and recovered, the authorities of Boston sum- 
moned him before them to answer for his practice. He 
underwent repeated examinations, and received insults 
and threats. During the year, however, he inoculated 
two hundred and eighty-six persons, of all ages, from 
hi fancy to old age, of whom only six died, while of five 
thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine, who took it in 
the natural way during the same period, eight hundred 
and forty-four died. The success of the practice was 
established, but the opposition did not cease. During 
this time the Doctor was in correspondence with the 
court physician in England, Sir Hans Sloane, and was 
invited to visit London. This invitation he accepted, 
and on his arrival he was treated with great attention, 
and was made a '•'• Fellow of the Royal Society," one of 
the first Americans thus honored. He remained in Eng- 
land a year and a half and then returned. 

As he grew somewhat infirm with years, he retired 
from his profession, which had kept him much in Boston, 
and devoted himself to his farm in Brookline, which he 
bought of his brother Peter, and on which he built the 
present house. He was greatly interested, and very 
successful in improving the breed of various domestic 
animals, especially horses, for which his farm became 
celebrated. He often broke the animals himself, being a 
fine horseman. His biographer speaks of him as having 
been seen in Boston after he was eightj^-four years of 
age, riding a fine colt he was breaking. He lived to see 
moculation universally practiced. This custom prevailed 
till it was superseded by vaccination, as practiced by Dr. 
Waterhouse, in Cambridge, and Dr. Aspinwall, in Brook- 



300 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

line. He died at the age of eighty-seven, and was buried 
in BrookUne Cemetery. His epitaph is said to be a just 
and appropriate one : — 

" Sacred to the memory of Zabdiel Boylston, Esq., and 
F. R. S., who first introduced the practice of inoculation into 
America. Through a life of extensive benevolence, he was 
always faithful to his word, just in his dealings, affixble in his 
manners, and after a long sickness in which he was exemplary 
for his patience and resignation to his Maker, he quitted this 
mortal life in a just expectation of a happy immortality, March 
1st, 1766," 

It is said that Dr. Boylston, in his will, bequeathed 
his house and farm to the town, as a home for the poor, 
on certain conditions, to which one of his relatives was 
expected to accede, but this not being complied with, the 
town missed the donation. 

From Dudley Boylston, a brother of the Doctor, who 
married Susanna Gardner, descended the first wife of 
the late Deacon Joshua C. Clark. Her daughters are 
the last of this old family, in Brookline. From Thomas, 
another brother, descended Thomas, who died in London, 
a wealthy merchant, who made bequests to the city of 
Boston. His sister Mary married a Hallowell. One of 
her sons became Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell, of the 
British Navy. Another of her sons, preferring the family 
name of his mother to that of his father, changed his 
name to Ward Nicholas Boylston. He became a mer- 
chant of London, acquired great wealth, and was dis- 
tinguished for his liberality. He returned to his native 
place, and lived for several years in Roxbury, and after- 
wards in Princeton. He gave large bequests to many 
charitable enterprises, and munificent donations to Har- 
vard College and the Boylston Medical Society and 
Library. 



THE IIYSLOPS. 301 

Thomas Boylston, the son of another brotlier, settled 
in School Street, Boston, and was identified with Brattle 
Street Church. He endowed a Professorship at Harvard 
College. He directed his executors to purchase the home- 
stead of his ancestors in Brookline, and convey the same 
to the First Church in this town, on condition that the 
church officers would allow his nephew, Joshua Boylston, 
to live upon the place, for which he should pay a rent of 
ten pounds annually to the church. The estate was to 
be entailed in the male line from this heir, in the same 
way from generation to generation, and failing the heir, 
who should have the right to live upon it, it should go 
to the church. But the property was in the hands of 
Mr. William Hyslop, who liad bought it of the Doctor's 
heirs, and the Brookline Church never received the in- 
tended bequest, neither did Joshua Boylston ever have 
a male heir, and with him the family name became ex- 
tinct in Brookline. 

THE HYSLOPS. 

Mr. William Hyslop, the purchaser of the Boylston 
house, was a native of Scotland. He came to this coun- 
try in his youth, and began business as a peddler of dry 
goods, Avhich he carried from house to house in a pack 
upon his back. He was very successful in this humble 
beginning, and having invested money in goods at a fortu- 
nate time and way, he was able to enter the dry goods 
trade still more extensively, and became very wealthy. 

He had a son of the same name, the one mentioned as 
having lived for some years in the house now occupied by 
Mr. Chapin, a son David, and one daughter, Elizabeth, 
who became the wife of Governor Increase Sumner. 

There was a Scotch Presbyterian clergyman with whom 
^Ir. Hyslop was acquainted in the old country, who emi- 



302 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

grated to Massacliusetts with twenty or more of his 
parishioners, and settled in Worcester. His name was 
Abercrombie. After a residence for some time in Wor- 
cester Mr. Abercrombie removed with his people to a 
more congenial situation on the Pelham Hills. When 
this good man could number eleven " olive plants round 
about his table," he was suddenly left a widower. The 
youngest had been named Mehitable, for Mrs. Hyslop, 
and when the little girl was six years of age Mr. Hyslop 
adopted her as his own, and she remained in his family 
till her marriage. Mr. Hyslop's business called him oc- 
casionally to Europe, and on his return at one time he 
brought with him a slab, or pier table, which was sup- 
ported by a pair of large spread eagles, the claws of which 
each clasped a round ball. It was placed between the 
parlor windows. This was a highly ornamental piece of 
furniture for those days, and as such was much admired 
and prized. When the Revolutionary War broke out, 
Mr. Hyslop was in Europe, and the contingencies of the 
war w^ere such that he could not return till it was over, 
without imperiling his life. While the British troops 
occupied Boston, a great alarm was one day created in the 
upper part of Brookline, by a man who rode up the old 
road furiously, on horseback, telling all whom he met that 
the British troops were at the church green. This was 
at the green in front of the church on Roxbury Hill ; but 
the people of the upper part of this town naturally 
enough supposed that the Brookline church green was 
meant, and great was the terror that ensued. The first 
impulse was to flee for safety ; the second to carry off 
something valuable ; but like distracted people at a fire, 
who throw mirrors out of the windows and carry mat- 
trasses carefully down-stairs, they seized upon anything 
but what the British would have taken had they come. 



THE HYSLOP HOMESTEAD. 303 

The table with the spread eagles was huiTiedly torn 
from the wall and laboriously carried up into the woods, 
which then covered the whole hill back of the house, and 
there buried by the servants. The little adopted daugliter 
was not to be outdone by the rest of the family, and she 
secured a new pair of red bellows which hung beside the 
fire-place, and never let them go during the flight and 
the temporary absence. 

Colonial troops were afterward quartered in the house ; 
and the family took refuge in jMedfield, from the fortunes 
of war. When a return was safe, and the buried eagles 
were dug up, for restoration to their proper place, one 
was broken. It was mended and the table replaced, be- 
ing fastened to the wall with nails instead of screws, thus 
making the thing legally a part of the house, and not a 
movable article. Not many years ago the eagles were 
claimed by Governor Sumner's descendants as a part of 
their inheritance, but it was shown that they were a part 
of the house, and the demand was not allowed. They 
remained there at the last accounts, and are an appro- 
priate adornment for the ancient and curious house. Mr. 
Hyslop returned after the war was over, and died in 1796, 
aged eighty-five years. 

His son David inherited the homestead. This singular 
man is well remembered by many persons now living. 
He was lame, of uncouth figure, and such excessive home- 
liness of countenance as is seldom seen, amounting al- 
most to hideousness. He also had an impediment in his 
speech, or rather never learned to speak plainly, always 
articulating his words like a little child, and the order of 
his mind being below the average he never acquired much 
education. But he inherited great wealth, and this con- 
sideration, in the eyes of many, counterbalanced all liis 
defects. 



304 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BBOOKLINE. 

" Oh, what a world of vile, ill-favored faults 
Look handsome in three hundred pounds a year." 

He found a wife, notwithstanding his personal pecu- 
liarities, was left a widower, and when quite advanced in 
years, married a lovely young girl of great personal 
beauty, who was sacrificed to her father's ambition for 
wealth. Mr. Hyslop was not a bad man, however, but 
his singularities were a source of annoyance or amusement 
to all with whom he had any dealings. He had a strange 
aversion to music of all kinds, and especially to the in- 
struments used at church, and the anthems so much prac- 
ticed in those times and which he always called " tan- 
trums.''^ He would not attend church on Thanksgiving 
days, on account of the " tantmms,'^ which formed a 
prominent part of the service. Soon after the old gentle- 
man brought his young bride to Brookline, a bassoon was 
added to the orchestra at church by Captain Robert 
Davis, who played well. 

Mrs. Hyslop lingered one Sunday after service to hear 
the choir practice a little, while her husband went out for 
his horse. As soon as he was ready, however, he made 
his appearance at the church door, and beckoning to his 
wife he called out loudly in his broken speech, " Jane ! 
tome ! tome along ! don't 'tay there to hear the bag- 
pipe.^'' 

It was his custom to make a long prayer every morn- 
ing before breakfast, at which every member of the house- 
hold was requested to be present. He always prayed 
with his eyes open, and the consequence was that material 
things and spiritual were apt to get decidedly mixed. 
On one occasion, while thus praying he happened to see, 
through the open door into the kitchen, a monkey which 
he kept, making free with the sausages which had been 
set frying before the morning worship began. Pausing 



305 

in tlie prayer, he interpolated a direction to " Hetty," 
that the sausages should be protected, and went on with 
his prayer without the slightest perception of anything 
ludicrous in the situation. His remark must have had a 
peculiar effect on those who had not observed the per- 
formance in the kitchen. 

In the third story of the house at the southwesterly 
corner was a small room which was dark and only acces- 
sible through another room, and not easily noticed. 
(Perhaps this was where Dr. Boylston was secreted from 
his enemies.) This room Mr. Hyslop cidled his '' iron 
'tudy," — and it was the only " study " of which he ever 
made use. In this he hoarded up all the old iron he could 
collect on the premises, and quantities of other things 
useful and useless. The key he always curried with him. 
Articles of daily domestic use often disappeared. Inquir- 
ies and search were of no avail. After weeks or months, 
perhaps, the proposal often before made, that he should 
look in his " iron study," for the missing article, re- 
sulted in the restoration of it, as composedly returned as 
if no inconvenience had arisen from its absence. 

Anything on the place, from a silver spoon to a 
bread trough, a rake or a halter, was liable to spend a 
season in the " iron study." His peculiar ideas were 
also evinced in his management of his fruit. The place 
abounded in choice fruit, especially peaches, plums, and 
cherries. These he could not use, would not sell, and 
did not give away. Bushels upon bushels of the finest 
fruit lay and perished under the trees every year. 

There were two daughters and one son by this mar- 
riage, and both the former died in childhood. The son, 
who Avas a fine lad, lived till within a few days of his 
twenty-first birthday. 

While John Adams was President of the United States, 



806 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

he came to Brookline, and was the guest of Hon. Jona- 
than Mason, who lived on what is now Colonel Lyman's 
place. While there he spoke of the last time he had 
passed along that road as riding on horseback, carrying 
his mother on a pillion behind him. He never lost his 
interest in this home of his ancestors, and in 1821, when 
he was very aged, and so infirm that he was unable to 
walk without assistance, he expressed a wish to visit once 
more the old place where his mother was born, and where 
his grandparents had lived and died. 

Accordingly, Mr. Hyslop made a dinner party, and 
invited the venerable ex-President, Governor Brooks, 
General Sumner, and other distinguished guests. It Avas 
a grand affair, and passed off with great eclat^ but there 
was something pathetic in the sight of the almost help- 
less old man, supported by his grandson, going feebly 
about the place, and taking a last look of scenes once so 
familiar to his boyhood. 

Mr. Hyslop died in 1822, at the age of sixty-seven, 
and thus ended the Hyslop name. 

His widow married again ; her second husband being 
Mr. John Hayden. There were no children ; she sur- 
vived her husband, and at her death, the Hyslop wealth, 
which comprised much real estate in Roxbury and Chel- 
sea, as well as the place in Brookline, went to the heirs 
of Elizabeth Hyslop, and by them the homestead was 
sold to the present owner. 

THE SEAVER, OR HAMMOND PLACE, AND THE ACKERS 

PLACE. 

West of the old Boylston house, on the crest of the 
hill, was built in 1742, a house which stood until since 
the purchase of the place by the late Francis Fisher, Esq. 
All the land, as we have before mentioned, from Cypress 



THE SEAVER PLACE. 307 

Street to Brighton Street, and from the old road to tlie 
brook, was hekl among the Gardners. John Seaver 
married a Gardner, and liA'ed on the place we are de- 
scribino-. His son Nathaniel built the house above men- 
tioned, and it was afterwards occupied by his son of the 
same name. This Nathaniel Seaver was twice married, 
and there were eight children ; from one of the sons 
descended the present Seavers of Boston (Highlands). 
The late ^layor, Benjamin Seaver, was one of them. 
Nathaniel, the only son of the second marriage, was on 
board a vessel as supercargo, when it was wrecked, and 
he with tlie captain and part of the crew, were cast away 
on a desert island, where after great sufferings and hard- 
ships he died. A book was afterwards written by 
Captain Ockington, his brother-in-law, who was rescued, 
containing an account of their strange experiences, and 
of the death of young Seaver. His mother died young, 
leaving two daughters, who were afterwards married, the 
one to one of the Gardners, the other to Mr. John God- 
dard, the father of the late Benjamin Goddard. As none 
of the Seavers settled upon the old place, it was sold to 
John Deane, and afterwards to John Lucas. This man 
had become wealthy in the business of a baker, and re- 
tired to enjoy the fruits of his industry upon this beauti- 
ful place. He lived many years in Brookline, was an 
attendant upon Dr. Pierce's ministry, and showed his 
great regard for him by frequently taking him on jour- 
neys or short trips, bearing his expenses, and always 
bespeaking the best of hospitalities for him on the ground 
that he was his " wife's minister.''^ 

Mr. Lucas died in 1812, and the place was next owned 
for many years by Samuel Hammond. Tlie mansion 
house stood a little in front, and east of the old farm- 
house which still remains, and the terrace on which it 
stood is still to be seen. 



308 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

On the site of the house built by the late Francis 
Fisher, stood a large old-fashioned house, known as the 
Ackers house. John Ackers was a resident of Muddy 
River in 1656, and for more than two hundred years his 
descendants, to the sixth generation, have lived on or 
near that spot. The first house built by this first John 
Ackers, Avas on tlie west side of Brighton Street, then 
called " the lane from the country road to Cambridge" 
(Brighton it must be remembered was then a part of 
Cambridge). This land was an interesting piece of 
territory, and still is, from old associations. In 1648, 
it was " Voted that Jacob Eliot should have the swamp 
that joyneth to his allotment at Muddy River next to 
Cotton Flax (sometimes spelt Flack's), he receiving 
lybertye to cut Hedgyng w^ood in it for the Common 
fence that runneth through the said swamp." The " Com- 
mon was a part of the five hundred acres set apart by 
the town of Boston at Muddy River for perpetual com- 
monage ; " but which in time was all of it alienated, or 
taken up and improved. This Jacob Eliot was the 
brother of John Eliot, the famous Apostle to the Indians. 
He was a deacon of the Roxbury Church, of which his 
brother was minister. About the year 1640, Jacob Eliot 
was appointed to lay out a highway from Boston to 
Cambridge, which was laid out and trees spotted along 
the old Indian trail as far as '' the falls of Charles River." 
All the territory on the north and northwest side of 
the river, being for several years called Cambridge. 
This road led along what is now Walnut Street, Heath 
Street, Pound Lane, and Reservoir Lane, to Nonantum 
Hill. At this place was an Indian village, or settlement 
of " praying Indians," and an Indian burying-place was 
located on what John Ackers bought for his farm, on 
the west side of Brighton Street, including Ackers' 



JOHN ackers' farm. 309 

Avenue, and all the ground now occupied by the Irish 
population. There was probably an Indian village here 
also, as many Indian relics have been ploughed out, on 
this ground, as well as at Nonantuni Hill. Many years 
after all the Indians were gone from this locality, some 
old Indians travelled a long distance from the w^est to 
visit these old graves of their fathers. Jacob Eliot's 
'^ Swamp,'' it is quite evident from old deeds, included 
all the meadow land from Ackers' Avenue to the new 
Reservoir. This Jacob Eliot died in 1051, leaving among 
other children a Capt. Jacob Eliot (also a deacon) and a 
daughter Mary, who married Theophilus Frarey of Bos- 
ton. It seems that this Captain Eliot and his brother-in- 
law Frarey retained this property, until the death of the 
Captain in 1693 rendered it necessary to sell it in set- 
tlement of his estate. A curious old deed, still in pos- 
session of the Ackers family, written in 1698, bears the 
names of Theophilus Frarey, and the widow and chil- 
dren of Deacon Jacob Eliot, who joined in deeding a 
part or all of this land (twenty acres) to John Ackers. 
The cellar of the original Ackers' house was traceable 
within the memory of persons now living. 

One of the children of Deacon Eliot, whose name with 
her husband's appears in this old deed, was the wife of 
Elizur Holyoke. This couple were the parents of Ed- 
wark Holyoke, afterwards President of Harvard College. 

Three years previous to this purchase John Ackers had 
bought of Samuel Ruggles a tract of land on the east side 
of " the lane, " or Brighton Street, now belonging to the 
heirs of the late Jacob Pierce. 

These old deeds are in excellent preservation, the one 
containing the signature of the Eliots, bearing heavy black 
seals. John Ackers married Desiretruth Thome of Bos- 
ton, and their children '' Desiretruth and Elizabeth," per- 



310 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

haps twins, were baptized and recorded in Roxbury in 
July, 1666. There were afterwards several other children, 
including two sons, John and William. The father after- 
wards moved to Dunstable, and the son John occupied 
the homestead. This John was a thrifty farmer, fre- 
quently buying tracts of land around him as well as wood- 
land and marsh lands, as the ancient deeds prove. All 
the Ackerses have been farmers through seven genera- 
tions. In the mean time, on the corner of Brighton and 
Boylston streets, where Mr. Fisher's house now stands, 
was the house of Joseph White. Nathaniel Holland mar- 
ried one of his daughters, and to him the place was deeded 
in 1695. In 1705, the same year that the town was set 
off and incorporated, John and William Ackers purchased 
the house and land. 

The names of these two men and that of their father 
appeared on the petition for the separation of Muddy 
River from Boston the previous year. In 1735 William 
Ackers, son of the last named John, then a youth of sev- 
enteen, brought from the woods, upon his shoulder, and 
set out, the fine elm tree which now casts its luxuriant 
shadow upon the lawn. In 1744, John Ackers built a 
fine large house on this spot, which was quite imposing for 
a farm-house in those days. In Revolutionary times it 
was occupied as barracks for colonial troops, but the family 
did not leave it, as many families left their houses, but 
divided with the soldiers and bore the inconvenience. 
The old road was then much narroAver in front of the 
house than at present. The well, where a sweep was 
poised for lifting the water in " the old oaken bucket," 
was at the foot of the grassy slope, and all the water was 
carried by hand with much toil, to the house and barn up 
the hill. The road has since been widened, and the old 
well is now under the sidewalk. Mr. William Ackers, 



THE ACKERS PLACE. 311 

second, died in 1794, at a good old age. His son William, 
the third of the name, was the next owner of the house. 
He married ]\Iehitable Hyslop Abercrombie, the adoj^ted 
daughter of Mr. William Hyslop. 

Mr. Hyslop gave her a great wedding, which was a grand 
event in the town for those times, and was not only a 
theme for tea-table chat, but was remembered, talked of, 
and written about, long after. The sons of this marriage 
were outlived by their father, who died in 1841, the last 
male member of this ancient family. 

The place was sold by the heirs to Mr. John Howe, and 
was purchased from him in 1850 by the late Francis 
Fisher. The old house was taken down, and though it 
had stood for more than a century it was in excellent pres- 
ervation. The present fine house was built the same year. 

The great elm has been preserved with assiduous care. 
In 1839, during a gale of wind, a large lower branch was 
torn from tlie tree and fell upon the end of the house, 
breaking it through. A large cavity was left in the trunk, 
which had increased by the action of the weather and 
natural decay, till the very existence of the tree was 
threatened. Mr. Fisher immediately set about the work 
of rescuing it. The cavity was carefully excavated to the 
solid wood ; all the decay being removed, the opening 
was then carefully filled with bricks laid in cement, and 
the whole covered with a plate of lead to protect it 
from the weather. The dead and unsightly branches were 
removed, the bark scraped to destroy moss and insects, 
and a flower bed opened near it to admit of a constant 
supply of nutriment to the roots. The result was a 
complete renovation of the patriarchal tree. It com- 
menced growing again with vigor, and new wood formed 
which from time to time pushed out the bricks till the open- 
ing was greatly reduced in size, while the girth of the tree 



312 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

was much increased. In 1829 the large tree nearer the 
street was broken in two by a weight of ice. This also 
was suffering from neglect, but a similar course was the 
means of its preservation, and new bark has nearly oblit- 
erated the marks of the injury. 

It is a curious coincidence that Thomas Stedman was 
one of the abuttors upon the Ackers farm in 1698 ; and 
that Mr. Fisher, wlio is a descendant from that family, on 
the mother's side, should, without design, come to live in 
this neighborhood of his ancestor, so far removed, and beau- 
tify the grounds so familiar in their primitive wildness to 
his predecessors of more than a century ago. 



SAMUEL WHITE. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE HOUSE OF SAMUEL WHITE, ESQ., AFTERWARDS THE HEATH 
PLACE. — AUNT WHITE. THE WINCHESTERS. 

T^HE first White who settled in Brookline was John 
-^ White, who came from Watertown very early in the 
days of the Colonial settlement, and from him all the old 
families of Brookline by that name have descended. He 
settled in *' the village." Major Edward White, of whom 
an account has been given, was his son, as was also Joseph 
White who lived on the corner of Brighton and Boylston 
streets, before the place was purchased by the Ackers 
brothers. Joseph and Benjamin White both signed the 
petition for the separation of Muddy River from Boston, 
and both were prominent in founding the First Church. 

Samuel White, son of Joseph, built a house on the site 
of the one now occupied by Mr. Cabot, between Heath and 
Boylston streets. This was a century before Boylston 
Street was opened, and the land belonging to the house 
extended northward across what is now Boylston Street 
and abutted upon " the lane," or Brighton Street, and the 
Ackers' lands. (3n the opposite side of Heath Street it 
extended to the Reservoir ground, wliich was then a part 
of the " Commons," or five hundred acres set apart by 
the town of Boston " for perpetual commonage at ]\Iuddy 
River." Samuel White married Ann Drew, an energetic 
woman of those early days, who made a practice of arrang- 

21 



314 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

ing her toilet on Sunday mornings over a tub or pail of 
water for lack of a looking-glass, and then walked to " Rox- 
bury meeting-house," to attend a long day's service. After 
the Brookline church was established Mr. and Mrs. White 
were identified with it during their lifetime. In 1759, 
about a year before Mr. White's death, he gave by deed 
to the Selectmen of Brookline twenty acres of Avoodland 
at Needham, " to supply the minister or ministers that 
may be settled in the town from time to time." This 
deed was witnessed before the eminent lawyer Jeremiah 
Gridley, Esq., then residing in the present Chapin house, 
and was probably written by him. Ann, a daughter of 
Samuel White, became the wife of Henry Sewall, grand- 
son of Chief Justice Sewall of this town. She had three 
sons, Henry, Hull, and Samuel. The two former each 
died at the age of twenty-four. Samuel, who outlived 
his parents, inherited his father's property, or the home- 
stead. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, 
this young man, being a Loyalist or Tory, abandoned his 
native land and took refuge in England. The banishment 
act was passed in 1778, and our Brookline Tory, being 
proscribed as a refugee, never returned. After the close 
of the war the confiscated property was sold by order of 
Government. It was purchased by Mr. John Heath and 
thus passed into the hands of those from whom it after- 
ward took the name of " the old Heath house." Samuel 
Sewall died unmarried at Bristol, England, in 1811. 

Susanna, the other daughter of Samuel White, was the 
wife of Ebenezer Crafts of Roxbury, who built the house 
known as "the old Crafts house," on the Roxbury road, 
now Tremont Street. Its date, 1709, upon the chimney, 
is familiar to all. Mr. John Heath married Mr. Eben- 
ezer Crafts' daughter, and thus, by this purchase, Mrs. 
Heath came to live in the house of her grandfather. One 



'' AUNT WHITE. olo 

branch of the Goddard family (Samuel Ooddard) also de- 
scended from this daughter of Samuel White. There 
was also an intermarriage several years before between 
the White and Crafts families. Mrs. Elizabeth (Crafts) 
White was one of the most interesting of the many occu- 
pants of this old Wliite or Heath house. She was born in 
1T4G. In her childhood, books were rare, and the oppor- 
tunities for the education of girls very limited. The 
Bible and the Almanac were almost her only literature. 
But her mind was of the order that must grow, and will 
not be repressed. She read and re-read the Bible till her 
knowledfje of it was wonderful. As other books came 
scantily into her possession, she read and studied tJiem, 
and from her small stock culled a larger store of informa- 
tion and gained more strength of understanding and real 
thouoht than is often cjained bv those who skim swiftly 
the boundless surface of the light literature of modern 
times. She had a superior memory and Avrote remark- 
able letters, and occasional verses. Her husband was a 
young man of education and unusual promise. Early in 
their married life, however, he was stricken down by a 
fever which deprived him of his reason and he died by 
his own hand. This sorrow overshadowed the whole life 
of the widow thus bereft. She never married again, but 
lived to a great age beloved and respected by all. As she 
advanced in years she came to be called *' Aunt Wliite " 
by a host of friends, and is still so called in affectionate 
remembrance. 

Several slaves were kept in the Crafts and Heath fam- 
ilies. A bill of sale of one of these is still extant among 
old papers. It reads as follow^s : — 

" To all People to whom these presents shall come, I Ricliard 
Champion of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, of ye Massachu- 



316 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKEINE. 

setts Bay in New England School-Master, sendeth Greeting^ 
Know ye that I the said Richard Champion for and in consider- 
ation of the sum of one hundred pounds in good and passable 
bills of New England aforesaid, the receipt whereof I do hereby 
confess and acknowledge .... have Bargained and Sold, Re- 
leased and granted and confirmed and by these Presents do bar- 
gain and sell unto Ebenezer Crafts of Roxbury, Cordwainer, a 
Negro Girl named Dina, about eleven years old, together with 
all her wearing apparel, To have and to hold the said Negro 
Girl unto the aforesaid Ebenezer Crafts, and to his heirs and 
assigns forever." 

This is dated in 1739. 

This Dinah proved well worth the hundred pounds 
which her master invested in her at eleven years of age, 
and during sixty years she faithfully served those who 
claimed her allegiance. 

At the death of Dinah, in 1803, Mrs. White WTote the 
following lines, which show not only her feeling, but the 
view of slavery, which she held even then, before the 
anti-slavery agitation had even begun in New England : — 

" Tho' now no pensive father mourns her death, 
Nor tender mother her departed breath, 
"No brother kind, no child nor sister dear 
Sheds o'er her silent grave one friendly tear, — 

" Yet once the tears her parents' cheeks bedewed 
When human monsters, worse than tigers rude 
With hearts unfeeling as the direst liend 
Snatched her from every joy and ever}' friend. 

"How were their bleeding hearts with anguish torn, 
W'hen she was o'er the raging billows borne, 
No more to see her native land again, 
But distant far, to feel hard Slavery's chain. 
Tho' black her skin as sky where clouds deform, 
And temper boist'rous as the wintry storm. 
Yet sometimes mild as summer eve was she 
And oft her ebon visage smiled on me. 



THE WHITE FAMILY. 317 

" In days of yore when in my infant state, 
Her weary arms did oft sustain my weight, 
And oft with trifles did she win my love, 
Ere lapse of time had taught my feet to move. 

" And shall no tear fall on the lifeless clay. 
Of one who has in servitude grown gray? 
Forbid it heaven ! ^My breast shall heave a sigh, 
While trickling tears descend from either eye. 

" Rest, rest in peace, thou relic of a slave ! 
Soft be thy slumbers in the silent grave, 
And may'st thou rise washed in the Saviour's blood, 
Spotless and white at the great day of God." 

There are otlier verses extant wliicli this huly wrote 
when nearly ninety years of age. Her taste for books 
and writing continued to the end of her hfe. The great- 
est recreation for these quiet wives and daugliters of the 
Brookline farmers in those old days was to look on at 
the gayeties of " Commencement Day," at Cambridge, 
or witness the display made by those who could attend 
and participate in it. Mrs. White and others of the 
Crafts family who came to live in Brookline were in the 
habit of going to the old Crafts house on the Roxbury 
road, — before the bridge to Cambridge was built, — on 
Commencement Days to see the gay riding, which all 
passed through Roxbury and Brookline on these occa- 
sions. 

^Irs. White died in 1838, aged ninety-two j^ears. 

John White, another son of Joseph, and brother of 
Samuel, born in Brookline, in 1677, became a minister 
and settled in Gloucester. Letters written by Rev. John 
White, more than a hundred years ago, but wlien he was 
at an advanced age, addressed to his brother Samuel, are 
still preserved, and manifest the devout and affectionate 
spirit which characterized him. He died in 1760, aged 
eighty-three. 



318 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

The papers left by the venerable Mrs. White have 
been a means of the preservation of various bits of 
family or local history, and some amusing incidents which 
would otherwise have been lost. A complete genealogy 
of the Crafts, White, and Heath families is thus pre- 
served, and many interesting letters. In one of the 
latter there is an account of an accident which occurred 
in Cypress Street, in the last century, which just missed 
of being a tragedy, and resulted in a comedy. 

It will perhaps be remembered by many persons, that 
that part of Cypress Street where the railroad crosses, 
and the brook passes under the street, was formerly 
three or four feet lower than at present. The great oak 
tree at the entrance to Tappan Street, stood, within the 
last thirty years, on ground that was walled up at least 
three feet ; and it was then easy to drive a horse down 
through the brook at the west side of the road. In the 
time of the incident we are about to relate, the brook 
always ran over the road, when swollen by the rain. The 
letter from which we gather the story, is dated March 
9th, 1795, and was written by Mrs. White to a member 
of the family, who was away from home. 

It seems that on the Saturday night previous, March 
7th, there had been a great southerly storm which had 
melted the snoAV and caused a great freshet, which made 
Cypress Street impassable. Rev. Mr. Tappan of Cam- 
bridge was to preach in the First Church for Rev. Mr. 
Jackson, who was then out of health. Not knowing 
the unsafe condition of the street, or " the New Lane," 
as it was then called, he attempted to ford the torrent 
with his horse and chaise, his son being with him. But 
the horse went off the bridge, and chaise and riders were 
plunged into the flood. The son came very near being 
drowned, but having finally struggled out of his predica- 
ment he set off to Captain Croft's, to call assistance. 



A FLOOD IN CYPRESS STKEKT. 310 

The letter goes on to say : — 

"Your brother lias just come in from Town ^Meeting. He 
says that Mr. Jackson told him that after Mr. Ta})i)an had sent 
his son to call assistance, he stayed in the water while he dis- 
engaged the horse from the carriage, and then mounted hare- 
backed, followed his son, borrowed a saddle, and rode round by 
White and Sumner's store " (at the foot of Walnut Street). 

" This accident happened at first bell ringing. He did not 
get to Mr. Jackson's till after the second began. He was so 
surprised and fatigued, he could not give much account of him- 
self, only that he had been in the water. Mr. Jackson dressed 
the poor unfortunate man in a suit of his clothes, but as his 
small clothes did not cover his knees, he was obliged to wear 
his wet ones 

'• David Hyslop said he was very sorry he did not send to 
him for a pair, but as ' the legs of the lame are not equal,' if 
one knee had been covered the other must have been bare. 
But he dried and fixed himself as well as he could, and went 
clumping into meeting in borrowed shoes just as Mr. Jackson 
had done his first prayer. 

" Mr. Jackson's cloak was so short for him he could not 
look very buckish. Although there were some circumstances a 
little diverting, it was really a serious affair. Mr. Jackson 
prayed in the morning and at night ; both times he returned 
thanks that they were preserved when in imminent danger, and 
prayed that their health might not be injured. Mr. Tappan 
put his notes and his band in his book and put them on the 
cushion behind him when he set out from Cambridge, but the 
current was so rapid that they were all carried off. Notwith- 
standing, he preached two excellent sermons from notes which 
he happened to have in his pocket. The chaise, which he 
borrowed of the President,* was very much damaged. It 
seemed as if fire and water were against them, Sunday. His 
son stayed at home in the forenoon, to dry himself, left his 
shoes in the sitting room, and went out to the kitchen fire. 

* Rev. Dr. Willard was President of Harvard College at that time. 



320 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Meanwhile, a brand fell down on one of them and burnt the 
heel quarter almost up. But Mr. Jackson was kind enough to 
look up one that answered, so that he followed his father to 
church in the afternoon." 

There is an additional appropriateness in the name of 
Taj)pan Street of which we had not been aware till the 
above incident suggested it. 

In Mr. John Heath's family were two old slaves, Caff 
and Kate, and one Primus, of whom various anecdotes 
are related. Mr. Heath, who was fond of quizzing Pri- 
mus, asked him one day which was the heavier, a pound 
of lead or a pound of feathers. 

" A pound of lead, Massa," said Primus, promptly. 
'' Course, a pound of lead is de heaviest." 
A laugh ensued at Primus's expense. 
'' Don't you b'lieve it, Massa ? You go stick your 
head in de fireplace and let Primus go up a top de house 
and drap a pound ob fedders and a pound ob lead down 
de chimbley on your head ; den see which de heaviest." 

On the occasion of the great alarm in this part of the 
town in Revolutionary times, occasioned by a party of 
British "regulars," riding out into Roxbury, and the 
announcement being made that they were at '' church 
green," there was a general stampede from the Heath 
house, as well as from all the other houses in the neigh- 
borhood. Everybody, white and black, sought a hiding 
place in the woods, except poor old Kate, Cuff's wife, 
who was too old and infirm to run away. She squeezed 
behind the tall, old-fashioned clock, which stood in a 
corner, and stayed there for hours, and there the family 
found her when they returned. The only article carried 
off by the family for safety was a hag of salt, which was 
seized by one of the female members of the household 
in the moment of flight. 



OLD-FASHIONED VISITING. 321 

This part of the town was very social in customs in 
the old times, and the quaint, old-fashioned style of visit- 
ing prevailed, long after it Avas discontinued in the more 
tliiekly settled portions of the town. Persons now living 
can remember when it was the fashion to send a child 
early in the morning with her mother's " compliments," 
to some neighbor, and say that " if it was convenient, 
mother would come and spend the afternoon." By two 
o'clock, the visit was begun, and often the small spinning 
wheel was carried, instead of the sewing, but how the 
necessary amount of talking could be done with two or 
three spinning-wheels in motion, we, of the days of sew- 
ing machines, are at a loss to understand. By "milking 
time," the visit was over, and the guests gone home to 
their chores and their early bed-time. 

It is easy to perceive, when familiar with our early 
history, as a people, how the New England habit of talk- 
ing about everybody and their affairs grew up as a nat- 
ural consequence of the mode of life and the state of the 
country. With no holidays, or public amusements, and 
few recreations of any sort, with a few great common 
interests, as the church, the crops, and the state of the 
countr}^ — with many common inconveniences and pri- 
vations growing out of the newness of the country, and 
the difficulty of communication with England, ifc is no 
wonder that when they met, the interest or the misfor- 
tune of one neighbor, which was the interest or misfor- 
tune of all, was the common subject of discussion. 

It is easy, too, to perceive how the very liabit which 
grew out of common human sympathy, and the needs of 
the heart, was liable to perversion by envy and uncharita- 
bleness, into the gossip and scandal which are even now the 
bane and curse of thinly settled towns, and small villages. 

Out of this same common sympathy and need, has 



322 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

grown also the prompt, quick, Avilling, helpful spirit which 
is never appealed to in vain for a case of real need, 
whether it is a private family stranded by adverse cir- 
cumstances, a battle which has struck a blow to every 
household in the land, or a burnt city which stretches out 
imploring hands for help. If New England gossips over 
her tea-table, not the less does she empty her full hands 
into the lap of the needy, and help the struggling up into 
security and peace. 

The journals or private diaries, kept for years by per- 
sons resident in this town, though cumbered with many 
family cares, are a faithful transcript of the daily life 
which made the women of those times strong but not un- 
feminine, and left them no leisure to seek a share in the 
government, or administration of public affairs. 

Mr. John Heath in his old age relinquished his farm to 
his son. A curious old deed of subsistence is still pre- 
served in which are specified all the items for his main- 
tenance. This method was not uncommon in former 
times, and seems to have been a wise provision both for 
parents and children. Mr. John Heath died in 1804, aged 
seventy-two. 

Mr. Ebenezer Heath, the only son of Mr. John Heath, 
succeeded his father as proprietor of the homestead or 
farm. He married Miss Hannah Williauis of Roxbury, 
and built the house now occupied by his daughters. The 
old house was rented for many years to a succession of 
tenants. 

One of the daughters of Mr. John Heath became the 
wife of Dr. John Goddard of this town, who settled in 
Portsmouth, N. H. 

After the death of this lady he married a second time, 
then a third, and finally for his fourth and last wife he 
returned to Brookline and took one from the same house 



MRS. EBENEZER HEATH. 323 

whence he had taken his first, this time marrying Anne, 
the only cliild of Mrs. Elizabeth White. Tliis huly sur- 
vived her husband about three years, but not her venera- 
ble mother. 

The wife of Mr. Ebenezer Heath was a woman of more 
than ordinary ability, and great strength and beauty of 
character. She brought up a family of nine children, and 
with all the household cares which a farmer's wife neces- 
sarily had in those days (and she was an accomplished 
housekeeper) she found time for the improvement of her 
mind, and the extracts which are extant in her own hand- 
writing: from relifjious and other books which she read, in- 
dicate her good taste, her humble, conscientious, and 
grateful spirit, and her tender sympathies. 

She also kept a diary of notewortliy local events with 
many interesting comments, and recorded much of her 
own personal experience and reflection thereon. 

The latter was for her own improvement and not for the 
eyes of others, but her growth in the traits which make 
up a beautiful and consistent Christian life, is uncon- 
sciously manifested upon almost every page. Under date 
of July 9th, 182C), she speaks of a party of friends meet- 
ing '' to celebrate Lafayette passing by." The same 
week, she speaks of a visit from her daughter, with her 
husband and young child, in which great pleasure had 
been anticipated, but which was turned to griet by the 
illness and death of the little one. She writes, " Dr. 
Pierce returned from the funeral of President Adams, 
who had lived in this world ninety years, to pray with 
our little grandson who had lived but forty-two days." 

Long years after Mrs. Heath's death, a voluntary trib- 
ute was paid to her memory and her worth, by one who 
had in early life, being an orphan, been placed in the 
familv of Mr. Heath, a mere child, to earn his board on 



324 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

the farm. He has since been prospered till he is able to 
ride in his own carriage. The little kindly acts by which 
this excellent woman made the almost friendless little boy 
her devoted friend, were also strong in their influence npon 
him in his manhood, making him careful for the rights 
and the feelings of those in his own employ similarly situ- 
ated. And so " the good, men do, lives after them." 

A great affliction came upon this lovely woman in the 
death of her daugliter Mary, a young lady of twenty. 

During several of the last years of Mrs. Heath's life 
she was deprived of the use of her limbs and was other- 
wise much afflicted, but her cheerful and beautiful spirit 
was triumphant over all her sorrows. She died in 1832, 
aged sixty-one years. It was a little singular that two 
other ladies, members of the First Church, and noted in 
the community for their personal worth, Avere removed 
by death the same year ; these were the wife of Mr. 
Richard Sullivan, and the first wife of Mr. Benjamin 
Goddard. Dr. Pierce remarked that " the loss of three 
such women was enough to impoverish any church." 

Mr. Charles Heath, the eldest son of Mr. Eben Heath, 
took down the old mansion in 1838. It was one of the 
substantial square houses of the olden time, built for cen- 
turies, witli low ceilings and narrow windows with seats 
in the deep recesses, now long out of date. A fence con- 
taining much timber, elaborately constructed, surrounded 
the yard, and the borders were hedged with box. Mr. 
Heath built the house which is still standing and now oc- 
cupied by Francis Cabot, the same year, and occupied it 
many years himself. 

Mr. Ebenezer Heath was for some time Town Treas- 
urer. He died in 1845 at the age of eighty. 

The late Mr. Charles Heath is so well remembered 
that scarcely more than a passing notice is necessary, yet 



THE DARK DAY. 325 

his memory deserves the tribute of recorded worth. Like 
his excellent mother he possessed traits of character whicli 
won the respect and esteem of all who knew him, and 
though his quiet and retiring disposition prevented his 
bearing great public responsibilities, he was none the less 
an honored and valued citizen. His death called forth 
expressions of sincere regret from those who were not 
bound to him by the ties of kindred, as well as from those 
who claimed him as their own. He left the sum of two 
thousand dollars in trust to be used for the poor of the 
First Parish, or for such persons as his executors deemed 
worthy, they not being beggars or common paupers. 

Among ancient papers of the Heath family there is an 
account of the famous " dark day." It is uncertain whose 
handwriting it may be, but it was evidently written im- 
mediately after the event. 

^^ May lOtJi, 1780. Being Friday there were several small 
showers in the morning. About three o'clock the Clouds began 
to have a yellowish appearance, this brassy Colour kept in- 
creasing. A little before Ten, it began to look dark, and by 
twelve o'clock we were obliged to light up candles. It was as 
dark as at an hour after sundown. At one the darkness began 
to abate, and by half-past three the clouds blew over and the 
afternoon was as pleasant as usual. 

" The night following was as uncommonly dark as the day. 
Before nine o'clock there was a total privation of light ; though 
the moon was but just past the full it did not give one ray of 
light till it was more than three hours high. Peojile that were 
not above thirty rods from home could not get home without 
the greatest difficulty. 

" There were various opinions about the darkness. Some 
were exceedingly surprised and tho'tthe Conclusion of all things 
was come. Others that a Comet passed between us and the 
sun. Others again that it was a large body of Smoke that 



326 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

came from the woods that was on fire for many miles together 
at the westward. Others that it was a large Collection of 
Clouds and Vapors drove together by Contrary Winds." 

On the site of the house built a few years since by 
George Bacon, formerly stood a large and handsome 
house, owned and occupied by Hon. Stephen Higginson, 
a member of the legislature in the last century under 
"the old Confederation." His descendants have lived 
in the town almost constantly since that time. Hon. 
Stephen Higginson died in 1828, at the age of eight}^- 
five. The house was occupied for several years by Mr. 
Appleton, then by Dr. Warren, and was finally sold to 
Mr. Bacon, who removed the old structure and built the 
present house. 

Nearly opposite this house stood a house built before 
the last century, by Joseph Gardner, one of that numer- 
ous family of whom an account has previously been given. 
Deacon Joseph White was the next occupant, and he 
died in 1777. His son Samuel (the one of whom an 
account has been previously given), succeeded him as 
owner, and then for a long period the house was owned 
and occupied by Jonathan Jackson. General Simon 
Elliot next bought the place, and built the present house 
in 1824. Simon Elliot Greene succeeded him, and more 
recently the late J. Sullivan Warren, who was held in 
high esteem in Brookline, as also in Boston, for many 
acts of liberality, and his general benevolence of char- 
acter. This gentleman left a sum of money to be ex- 
pended in beautifying the streets of this town with shade 
trees. 

On the narrow lane which here crosses from Heath to 
Boylston Street, is the town " Pound," and it is generally 
known as '^ Pound Lane." This continues across Boyl- 
ston Street and to Beacon Street, at the upper part of 



POUND LANE. 327 

tlie new reservoir. Possibly parts of it are traceable 
further. 

It is a part of the old highway from Dedham to 
" Cambridge Village," and originally led to a village of 
Elliot's " praying Indians," who lived at the falls of 
Charles River, between Newton and Watertown. It lias 
recently been widened and graded, and is now called 
" Reservoir Lane." It was one of the wildest and most 
picturesque lanes to be found in the country, and it would 
be difficult to convince one who had never explored it 
that such a place could be found within six miles of the 
State House. It was narrow, winding, rocky, and steep ; 
up hill and down dale, bordered with wild briers, and 
gay with wild flowers, or attractive with berries, accord- 
ing to the season. Two or three houses, difficult of ac- 
cess, built within fifteen or twenty years, stand along 
this lane, that was so secluded. Even now it is a retired 
and rustic place, but the great Reservoir is built and all 
the world goes to see it, and the little wild lane begins 
to be a thoroughfare. 

To return to Pound Lane — there was little use for a 
Town Pound, comparatively, till about the year 183G, 
Avhen jNIr. Samuel Philbrick was instrumental in causinf; 
the town to pass a by-law, forbidding animals to be pas- 
tured along the streets. Previous to that time, cows, 
horses, and often swine, roamed at large, and grazed 
along the highways. Every avenue and driveway was 
necessarily closed with a gate to prevent the depredations 
of these marauders, and if a gate was accidentally left 
open, it was fortunate for the owner of the premises if 
liis grounds were not invaded, and his fruit trees or gar- 
den damaged before the mischief was discovered. 

INIany persons fearing lest they should be called upon 
for damages for trespass, kept their children out of school. 



328 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

lounging by the roadsides to watch then- cattle, and little 
barefooted boys and girls, with their cows, were a com- 
mon feature of the landscape. 

It would naturally be supposed that so great a public 
improvement as that proposed by Mr. Philbrick, would 
have been hailed with delight by our townspeople, but 
this was not the case. The most formidable opposition 
came from the very people best able to provide pasturage 
for their live stock, on their own grounds. Men who 
owned scores of acres of land, raised an outcry about 
being defrauded of their rights, and those who owned a 
solitary cow and no land, lamented the hard-heartedness 
of the rich who denied the poor the privilege of the way- 
side grass. But the law was enforced, and many an 
angry man made an irksome journey to the Pound, and 
reluctantly paid the necessary fee to get poor Brindle or 
Dobbin released from "durance vile." Remarks de- 
cidedly uncomplimentary to Mr. Philbrick were freely 
indulged, but law triumphed, and gates ceased to be a 
necessity. 

West of Pound Lane, on the north side of Heath 
Street, was the extensive farm of Deacon Benjamin White, 
son of Joseph White and brother of Samuel. He was 
one of the original founders of the town and the church, 
and is sometimes called " Ensign " Benjamin White. 

On this farm was the ancient house, which was taken 
down in 1809, between the floors of which was found the 
paper, of which a copy has been given, containing the 
names of all who were seated in the meeting-house in 
1719. There were four Benjamin Whites in succession 
from this ancestry, but Moses White occupied the house 
last mentioned, after his father, and his son of the same 
name after him. It was purchased from him in 1792, 
by Hon. Jonathan jNIason, who had previously lived in 



POLITICS OF 1798. 329 

the old Goddard or Gardner house, opposite tlie Reser- 
voir. He Avas a senator in Congress. He died in 1831. 

An allusion to the politics of those times, -occurs in an 
old letter dated in 171>8, written by a lady of that vicin- 
ity. 

The writer, mentioning two of her neighbors who 
called, says : — 

'• They spent the evening talking upon Politics. These trou- 
blesome times seem to take up every person's attention. I am 
ahnost sick of hearing the name of Federalists and Jacobins. 
We live in the midst of both. The upper and lower part of 
the Town are wliat people call Jacobins. They say those that 
live in the middle of the town are influenced by Mr. Mason 
and Mr. Cabot." [Hon. George Cabot at that time lived on 
the place now owned by the heirs of the late Samuel Goddard.] 

" I am soi-ry for 'Squire Gardner who said he wanted to 
please everybody, for he did not please anybody. At Town 
Meeting he stood in the broad aisle and durst not go one side 
or tlie other till somebody told him to go one side or the other, 
and at last he went on Dr. Aspinwall's side. He has said since 
that he was sorry he went to Town Meeting." 

The Federalists, it will be remembered, were the party 
who desired to reelect Washington, but as he positively 
declined a third term of office, they had unanimously 
nominated and elected John Adams, whose political 
opinions were those of Washington. The Jacobins or 
Republicans believing the other party less devoted than 
themselves to the cause of popular liberty, had declared 
their preference for Thomas Jefferson, and the result had 
been the election of Adams to the Presidency, and Jeffer- 
son as Vice-president. 

Hostilities between France and the United States were 
then impending, and party feeling, instead of subsiding, 



330 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

as is usually the case after an election is over, was ram- 
pant, and men and principles were handled without 
gloves, by everybody, from statesmen and their compeers, 
down to school-boys. 

The people in the " middle of the town," whom the 
lady intimates to have been influenced by Mr. Mason 
and Mr. Cabot, were no doubt Federalists, as Mr. Mason 
had served in the Senate, under Washington, and was 
his personal friend and admirer, and Mr. Adams, as we 
have before stated, was a visitor at Mr. Mason's house. 

An incident is connected with Mr. Mason's old house 
which is somewhat amusing. A colored woman, noted 
as a notorious thief, and a white girl in company, called 
at the house begging one day, and took the opportunity 
to steal some silver spoons. Mr. Mason had just before 
hired a new coachman. The man had been out, and on 
returning to the house was made acquainted with the 
loss. He instantly volunteered to go after the culprits 
and recover the lost silver, for he said that he had no- 
ticed them as he came along the road, digging dandelions 
in a field beside the way. It so happened that the per- 
sons whom the man saw, were indeed, b}^ an odd coinci- 
dence, a colored woman and a white girl, but they were 
from Mr. Heath's family, Sukey , a trusty servant of theirs, 
and a young girl who was staying there. 

The man made all possible speed down the road, and 
there in the field were the supposed vagrants. He jumped 
over the wall, and seizing them by the arms, ordered 
them to deliver up the silver they had stolen. As the 
terrified women stoutly denied any knowledge of what 
he meant, he compelled them to pour out their dande- 
lions, and to empty their pockets, every few minutes 
giving them a grip and a shake. No silver was to be 
found, however, and he proceeded to search their clothing. 



HON. THEODORE LYMAN's PLACE. 331 

the frightened creatures all the while protesting and as- 
serting their innocence. Finding nothing, and being 
shown tlie house where they lived, the self-made detec- 
tive finally let them go. Their anger and fright at beino^ 
taken for thieves, and the whole ludicrous atfsiir, made 
passing entertainment enough for the young people of 
the neighborhood. 

In 1822, Benjamin Guild, Esq., purchased the house 
which Hon. Jonathan Mason had occupied. In 1841, it 
was sold to Hon. Theodore Lyman, formerly mayor of 
Boston, who took down the old house and built the pres- 
ent fine mansion. The beautiful trees wliich shade the 
avenue, were set out by Mr. ]\Iason. Under the care of 
the various owners, all of whom have been gentlemen of 
taste, these beautiful trees and the fine lawn liave been 
cultivated and brought to their present luxuriance. West 
of the house, the summit of the gradually sloping hill 
commands a magnificent prospect ; in clear weather, Wa- 
chusett, Watatick, and other mountains being distinctly 
visible. 

A little beyond this house, on the opposite side of 
Heath Street, formerly stood the school-house for this 
part of the town. It was a one story Avooden buildino-, 
low in the walls, and with few conveniences. In this for 
many years, a school was kept by a female teacher in 
summer, and by a male teacher in winter. In this build- 
ing the Worcesters were for several years employed as 
teachers. It was small, and became densely crowded 
with pupils long before a new one was built, though it 
was only a primary school. The new school-house, for 
both grammar and primary schools, which was thouo-ht 
adequate for many years, has already been enlarged to 
meet present needs. 

On the north side of the street the next house of olden 



332 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

times was owned by Peter Gardner, another of the Gard- 
ner family, formerly so numerous in this part of the 
town. There were five houses occupied and owned by 
Gardners as early as 1688, of whom Peter was one. 

After him it was owned by Benjamin White, who 
died in 1777, at the age of 70. He was one of the Se- 
lectmen for many years. His son Benjamin occupied 
the house for several years, but in 1790 he took down 
the old house, which had been standing more than a hun- 
dred years, and built the present large square house upon 
the same site.* 

He died in 1814, and the large estate which had de- 
scended through three generations became now the posses- 
sion of the fourth Benjamin White. He died in 1839, and 
the estate passed into other hands. 

West of this house about half a mile further on, upon 
the other side of the street, was a very old house, which 
was once the property of Joseph Adams. Still further 
west was another owned by Nathaniel Stedman when 
Brookline first became a town. Both these houses were 
bought by one of the Benjamin Whites, and pulled down 
on account of their great age. 

The next house on the same side of the street was also 
once the property of Nathaniel Stedman, and was sold 
by him to Ebenezer Sargent. It was purchased of him 
by Deacon Winchester (of whom more hereafter), and 
finally became the property of the same Benjamin White 
who seems to have owned a goodly portion of this part 
of Brookline. It was built before 1740. 

The next house upon the opposite side, that built by 
Capt. Benjamin Gardner, was described in the article on 
the Gardner family. 

* This has recently become the property of Mr. Cabot, who has built an ele- 
gant house upon the hill west of it. 



KLHANAN WINCHESTER. 333 

The next house of any note, going westward, is the one 
owned for some years by Mark Sheafe. This old house 
has quite a history. 

Among the earliest settlers of the town were John and 
Josiah Winchester. They were of Welsh origin. Elha- 
nan and Henry Winchester appear in the second genera- 
tion. Of Captain John Winchester we gave a sketch in 
an article on Harvard Street. Elhanan Winchester, 
above alluded to, lived in the house there mentioned, and 
Avas a member of the First Church, of which his ancestors 
had been the founders. This man and his son of the same 
name, for many years bore a conspicuous part in the relig- 
ious annals of this town and vicinit}^ 

i\Ir. Winchester was married three times ; the first wife 
left no children, the second left six, and the third nine. 

In the year 1T44, when Mr. Winchester was a young 
man, there was quite an excitement in the First Church, of 
which Rev. ]\Ir. Allen was pastor, and several persons left 
it, and established an order which they called " New 
Lights.*' They held worship in private houses, sometimes 
in the lower part of the town in the house of Nathaniel 
Shepherd, on what is now the Public Library ground. 
(This was before the Dana family owned it.) In the upper 
part of the town they met at the house of Mr. Winchester. 

On Washington Street they sometimes met -at the 
house of Mrs. Elizabeth Corey. They had a preacher, 
Mr. Jonathan Hyde, for about thirty years. Many of the 
laymen became exhorters, and among these was jNIr. Win- 
chester. In 1751 his first child, Elhanan, was born. He 
was a most remarkable child from his earliest years. 
When only five years of age he could read any English 
book with ease and fluency. He was a delicate, thought- 
ful, gentle child, caring little for play, but devouring books 
with the keenest avidity. The few books then adapted 



334 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

to children were entirely inadequate for the cravings of his 
mind, and he read and studied the Bible till his knowledge 
of it was wonderful. 

Mr. Winchester was not able to afford other than com- 
mon school instruction for his remarkable little boy, and 
he soon mastered all that he could obtain from this source. 
He then obtained a Latin grammar, and with one evening's 
study qualified himself to join a class who had been study- 
ing several weeks. When a little older he acquired 
with wonderful facility, French, Greek, and Hebrew. 

An instance of his remarkable memory is stated by his 
biographer.* He had attended church one Sabbath with 
his father, where the building was in an unfinished state. 
(This was probably the old meeting-house at Newton 
known as '' Father Grafton's.") The father sat below 
stairs, and the little boy in the gallery. The keen eyes of 
the strict parent, however, detected the child gazing about 
the building apparently engrossed with its details. 

On returning home he called him to account for it, 
charging liim with paying no attention to the sermon. 
The boy in self-defense immediately named the text and 
the place where it was to be found. The father however 
was not satisfied, and the boy proceeded to name the 
"heads" of the sermon, and repeated much that the 
preacher had said. The stern countenance of the father 
relaxed into sometliing of complacency as the evidence of 
his son's attention and good memory was established, and 
the boy taking courage, continued, — 

" And now, father, if you will not be offended, I will 
tell you the number of people, and the number of beams, 
posts, braces, rafters, and panes of glass there were in the 
meeting-house. I counted them all, and remembered the 
text too." 

* Rev. Edwin M. Stone. 



REV. ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 335 

The fatlier with difficulty repressed a smile, but assum- 
ing a look of gravity lie warned the child to "give 
hereafter undivided attention to religious exercises when 
in a place of worship." 

This remarkable child was overwhelmed at the loss of 
his mother, who was a most affectionate and excellent 
woman, Avhen he was only eight years of age. In his 
later years he always spoke of her wdtli an intensity of 
affection and respect. 

It became inconvenient after a time for the New Lights 
to meet from house to house, and Mr. Winchester, who 
had been made deacon, was assisted by his religious breth- 
ren to build a large house which should contain a hall or 
apartment convenient for their use. This was the house 
long known as " Richards' Hotel," afterwards as the 
Sheafe place, and now occupied by many Irish tenants. 

In this house the New Lights worshipped undisturbed. 
After a time, however, young Winchester, who had made a 
formal profession of religion when about eighteen years of 
age, became a Baptist. His influence with his father was 
so great that he too left the New Lights and joined the 
Baptists soon after. The work of disintegration went on, 
and the sect was broken up, some joining the Congrega- 
tionalists, and some other sects. 

In 17G9 young Winchester was married to Alice 
Rogers of Rowley, Mass. Soon after this he entered 
upon the public work of the ministry, staying for a short 
time at Canterbury, Conn., and afterwards removing to 
Rehoboth, Mass. At this place was a Baptist church of 
open communion practice. Mr. Wincliester's youtli, his 
eloquence, his wonderful memory and zeal, attracted 
crowds ; a revival followed, and he gathered a new church 
of seventy members. 

In less than a year he so far changed his views as to 



336 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLIXE. 

believe in close communion, and was excluded from his 
church for breach of covenant. This produced a great 
commotion, and a council was called which decided that 
Mr. Winchester had left an error to embrace the truth. 
He soon became one of the most successful and popular 
preachers in his sect, returned to Brookline, and preached 
among his old friends, till lie preaclied nearly all the New 
Lights into the close communion Baptist faith. It was 
at this time that his father joined this sect. 

The next year, 1774, he decided to visit the South. 
On this visit he received a call from a church at Welch 
Neck, S. C, to become its pastor. He accepted the call, 
and after a short stay returned for his wife whom he had 
left in Massachusetts. When they arrived at Fairfax, 
Va., Mrs. Winchester was taken sick, and being unable 
to accompany him he went on and resumed his duties 
with his church, leaving his wife in the care of a friend. 
The following spring he returned to carry her to his 
southern home. But when he arrived it was too late. 
She was laid away in her last rest, and he saw her no 
more. He did not return at once to his people, but came 
to Boston to visit his old friends, and spend the summer. 
During this summer he preached for Dr. Stedman. Be- 
fore autumn he had visited Rehoboth and married Miss 
Sarah Peck, one of his former parishioners. He returned 
in the autumn to his church, where he was welcomed with 
great joy, — a revival occurred, and forty persons were 
baptized, among whom was Mrs. Winchester. He was then 
in the full tide of success and popularity, and in the enjoy- 
ment of great domestic happiness. In less than a year 
from his marriage he was again bereaved, and himself 
prostrated with a fever which nearly cost him his life. 

The next year he was married again to a young lady 
of his own parish, and in less than a year she too was no 



JiKV. ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 337 

more. Mr. Winchester often spoke of her as " one of the 
sweetest tempered women he ever saw." 

He bore his solitude two years, and then married a 
widow of PhiUidelphia. In less than two years she had 
followed her predecessors. Mr. Winchester's friends, 
after tliis unhappy experience, advised him never again to 
enter into a matrimonial alliance, but he thought it best 
for a clergyman to be married, and after a year or two 
he married for the fifth time — taking a widow lady of 
Philadelphia, who led him an unhappy life during the rest 
of his days. 

In 1780 he was called to Philadelphia, where he drew 
throngs, till the house was insufficient to contain them, 
and even St. Paul's, then the largest church in the city, 
was obtained, and immediately filled to overflowing. 

Sometime before this J\lr. Winchester had met with 
" Siegvolk's Everlasting Gospel," which held forth and 
illustrated the doctrine of Restoration, or what is now 
commonly called Universalism. He was half a convert to 
these views when he was preaching with such wonderful 
effect in Philadelphia. When it became a settled con- 
viction in his mind that these views were true, he 
preached them Avithout reservation. This of course pro- 
duced a furore, and the crowds who listened Avere divided 
into warm friends and bitter persecutors. It would be 
amusing Avere it not lamentable, to note the change of 
sentiment AAdiich Avill seize and overpoAver one's best 
friends, in the bitterness engendered by diversities of relig- 
ious belief. Some, seeming to consider themselves cus- 
todians of the truth, resent it as a personal affront if a 
friend honestly avoAvs different sentiments, and many wlio 
claim in these modern times to be the most liberal in 
their vicAvs, are the most rancorous in their feelings when 
one of their number goes over to another sect. It 



338 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKXINE. 

amounts to just this, '' Believe Avhat you please and call 
yourself of our sect, and you shall be popular, but take 
another name and work with another sect, and though 
your sentiments be lofty, and your life pure, you shall eat 
the bread of persecution, and drink the waters of bitter- 
ness." It is also doubly rancorous, this spirit of sectarian 
hate, when the object of it has been a man of eminence 
in his own sect. We see frequent illustrations of it in 
our own day. In Mr. Winchester's time it was tenfold 
worse. 

Rev. John Murray had been preaching the doctrine of 
Universal Salvation ten years, and quite an extensive cor- 
respondence had been going on between him and Mr. 
Winchester before they met. Dr. De Benneville, the first 
preacher of those views in this country, of French parent- 
age, was also Mr. Winchester's friend. Dr. De Benne- 
ville had been imprisoned in Calais and afterwards in 
Normandy for preaching his views, and Avith a fellow 
preacher, Durant, was sentenced for execution. His com- 
panion suffered the penalty, but he was reprieved, and 
finally set at liberty, and after preaching in Germany and 
Holland, settled in this country, where he lived to a great 
age. Mr. Winchester's acquaintance with these two em- 
inent men of his own faith, led him to desire to preach in 
Europe. He went to London in 1787, where he met with 
coldness and opposition at first, but his hearers continued 
to increase, and one place after another of larger size was 
required till he preached with wonderful success in the 
Parliament-Court Chapel. Mr. Winchester remained in 
England nearly seven years, and then went to France for 
brief visit. He returned to Boston in 1794, and immedi- 
ately to Brookline. He w^as received with affection and 
respect by our townspeople, to their credit be it said, 
though probably scarcely a person in the town held the 



REV. ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 339 

views which he did. But his personal popuhirity and 
the real respect upon which it was based, overcame relig- 
ious opposition. Tlie next day being Sunday, lie at- 
tended the First Church. In the evening, though his 
arrival was so recent and there was so little time to make 
it known, he preached to a large audience at the '' Punch 
Bowl YiUage." General Heath of Roxbury, and many 
others from that place were among his auditors. He 
preached during that autumn in many private houses in 
Brookline, Newton, and Cambridge, as well as in many 
churches of various denominations, and " wherever he 
went, large and delighted audiences hung upon the sound 
of his instructive voice." Among his converts at this 
time was his aged father, who seemed to follow the lead 
of his gifted son, from the excess of love and pride which 
he bore towards him. 

Tlie celel)rated Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia 
was one of the most intimate friends of Rev. Mr. Win- 
chester. j\Iuch of the correspondence which passed be- 
tween them is preserved, and is of interest both on theo- 
logical and i)olitical matters, for both held similar views 
on religious themes, and were ardent lovers of American 
ideas and institutions. j\lr. Winchester was in Enjiland 
during the stormy times in Europe, in the latter part of 
the last century, and his observation there, led him to 
prize more highly than ever the newly-established Repub- 
lican form of government of the United States which was 
then threatened with difficulty with France. He deeply 
lamented the part which England took in that war, and 
rejoiced in tlie neutrality preserved by this country, and 
its steady gain in prosperity. 

As soon as his visit to Brookline and vicinity was over, 
he visited Western Massachusetts and Connecticut, preach- 
ing^ in manv towns. He also wrote a '^Defense of Revela- 



d4U HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

tion " in answer to Thomas Paine's " Age of Reason," an 
excellent work, as an answer to infidel opinions, and a 
strong weapon not for his own sect alone, but for all be- 
lievers in revealed truth. This was reprinted in London 
within two years afterwards. 

Early in the following year, 1795, Mr. Winchester 
started on a tour to Philadelphia, stopping on the way at 
Providence, where he preached in the Baptist Church to 
a crowded assembly. Having proceeded to New York he 
was detained there two or three weeks by the illness of 
his wife, and in a letter mentions an interview with Hon. 
John Jay. He says : — 

" Of public news I need not inform you. You will see by the 
papers the clamors against the treaty and against Mr. Jay. I 
was this morning with Mr. Jay, and happening to mention these 
vexatious clamors, he replied, ' It was what I expected, but my 
trust is in God. I know that He rules and orders everything; 
and I shall endeavor to go on in the way of my duty and rest 
all events in his hands.' This speech he made with such manly 
dignity, that his very manner charmed me as well as the excel- 
lence of the speech itself." 

Mr. Wincliester preached to crowds in the Circus in 
New York during his stay there, and a subscription was 
started to build him a house of Avorship, but he proceeded 
to Philadelphia as soon as his wife's health would permit, 
and spent that autumn and winter preaching to his former 
people. Here he published a volume of hymns. In Feb- 
ruary he was attacked with a severe hemorrhage of the 
lungs, and his friend. Dr. Rush, was his medical adviser. 
He so far recovered as to go to New York the following 
June. This year he published a '' Political Catechism," 
at the suggestion of Hon. Timothy Pickering. This work 
passed through many editions, and Governor Jay interested 



RKV. ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 341 

liimself niucli in its circulation. It wiis adapted for use 
in liiirli schools and collcfres, and was designed to fjive 
instruction in true principles of government and liberty. 

The following autumn, on his way north, Mr. Winches- 
ter stopped in Hartford, at the residence of a friend. lie 
was still pale from his severe illness, but able to walk out 
and to speak somewhat in public. On the day of his 
arri\ al lie walked out after dinner, and observing a funeral 
procession, he joined it and followed to the cemeter}^ 
The assemblage was large, and the scene solemn. Just as 
the cottin was lowered into the grave, he arrested the at- 
tention of the multitude by breaking forth in his musical, 
sonorous voice, with the sublime words of Jesus to the 
mourning sisters at Bethany, '' I am the resurrection and 
the life." The effect was electric, and he went on in a 
strain of eloquence which held his audience spell-bound. 
The moment he ceased to speak there was the universal 
inquiry, " Who is he ? " '' Where did he come from ?" 

As soon as it was noised abroad that the stranger at the 
grave was Mr. Winchester, there was a general desire to 
hear him preach. He delivered one or two lectures, but 
no building in the city would contain his audiences, but 
the Theatre was soon opened for that purpose on Sundays, 
and on Wednesday evenings he preached in one of the 
churches. He was strongly impressed that his earthly 
course was nearly ended, and he spoke as one about to 
leave this world. Early in April he preached his last 
sermon, having chosen his text with the profound convic- 
tion that he should never preach again, from St. Paul's 
farewell address to the elders of the Ephesian Church 
(Acts. XX. 28-85.) 

From that day he declined rapidly, but with his mind 
clear to the very last, even joining in a hymn which was 
sung at his request, a few moments befoi'c he died, on tlie 
morning of April 18, 1797. 



342 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

On the following Friday he was buried from the Pres- 
byterian Church, tlie funeral sermon being preached by 
Rev. Dr. Strong, who though of another faith was his inti- 
mate friend, and paid a fitting tribute to the lovely char- 
acter and lofty piety of the deceased. 

He was buried in Hartford, and his resting place is 
marked by a stone containing the following inscription : — 

THE GE>'ERAL COXVEMTIOX OF THE UNIVEKSAT. CHURCHES IN MEMOUY 
OF THEIR DEAR DEPARTED BROTHER 

ELHANAN AVINCHESTER, 

ERECTED THIS MONUMENTAL STONE. HE DIED APRIL IStH. 1797, AGED 46 

YEARS. 

"Twas thine to preach with animated zeal 
The glories of the restitution morn, 
When sin, death, hell, the power of Christ shall feel, 
And Light, Life, Lnmortality be born." 

Mr. Winchester left no children, those which he had 
having died in infancy. His aged father, still living 
at the old place in Heath Street, and holding the views of 
his eminent son, while the latter was living, but appar- 
ently without any settled convictions of his own, was 
now again afloat without chart or compass. He had been 
first a Congregationalist, then a New Light, then a Bap- 
tist, then a Universalist ; a few years after his son's death, 
he turned Shaker^ and left Brookline and joined that 
sect in Harvard, where he died "full in the faith," in 
September, 1810, aged 91 years. 

Just before his death he sent word to some of his old 
friends in Newton, " In every other denomination I have 
had my doubts ; but now I am sure that I am right." 

When we see good men live noble and useful lives, and 
die triumphant deaths, holding views wdiich other men 
just as good and living just as purely consider arrant 
heresy, it may well make us very modest in the assertion 
of any creed beyond that of '' doing justly, loving mercy, 
and walking humbly with God." 



THE RICHAHDS' TAVERN. 343 

The great house which Deacon Winchester had occu- 
pied, and in which he had brought up his fifteen children, 
was afterwards owned by EV)enezer Wliite, and tlien by 
Joseph White, who sold it to Ebenezer Richards. lie kept 
it as a public house for several years. When the turnpike 
to Worcester was opened, a toll-gate was j^laced across it 
in the rear of the tavern. It was a convenient resort for 
teamsters, and parties from Boston often went out there 
to have games at nine-pins. In its best days it was much 
frequented by gay parties, and Brookline balls were held 
there. It was discontinued as a tavern about 1830. 

It was afterwards purchased by Henry Pettes of Bos- 
ton, who made great improvements upon it, resided there 
for a year or two, and then sold it to Mark W. Sheaf e of 
Portsmouth ; it has since then been commonly called the 
Sheaf e place. 

The next house on the same side of Heath Street stands 
on the site of one which was built by Ebenezer Ken- 
drick, another of the New Lights, being conveniently near 
their place of worship. The present house was built by 
Mr. Jonathan Hammond. There was quite a large tract 
of land in this vicinit}^, partly in Brookline, and partly in 
Newton, belonging to the Hammonds, from whom the 
pond and the cross street near by were named. 

The Hammond house was for several years occupied by 
INIadame Jane Coaifford, a French lady. She died in this 
house and was buried in Brookline Cemetery. 



344 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HEATH STREET, CONCLUDED. WARREN STREET. ANEC- 
DOTE OF JOSHUA BOYLSTON, DEACON CLARK, MISS PRUDT 

HEATH, COLONEL PERKINS. GODDARD AVENUE. THE 

GODDARDS IN THE REVOLUTION. A PATRIOTIC FAMILY. 

COTTAGE STREET. THE LEE PLACE. 

HAVING arrived at the very limits of the town in 
this direction, we find a small settlement of Ger- 
mans. Almost on the town line stood a little cottage or 
hovel, years ago, where lived an old negro, Nathaniel 
Hill, who was hired by the farmers around to do odd 
jobs. The place was bought by Deacon Ebenezer Crafts, 
who sold it to Rev. Jonathan Hyde, who came from Can- 
terbury, Conn., where the Hydes abound, — to preach 
to the '' New Lights" of Brookline. He built a house 
upon it in 1751, and lived here thirty-six years, the most 
of that time officiating as a clergyman, though there was 
not a regularly organized church, and was not probably 
wealth enough among them to build a meeting-bouse ; 
the history of the sect we have given, so far as informa- 
tion could be obtained, in the chapters on the Win- 
chesters. Of Ml'. Hyde we can learn little personal 
history, but Dr. Pierce states that though nearly all his 
followers were, or became Baptists, he held to the doc- 
trine of infant baptism to the end of his days. He died 
in 1787, aged 78. His son Thaddeus next owned the 
place, and died there in 1808, and his son Arba succeeded 
him. 



WABREN STREET. 345 

The place and the men deteriorated together, and after 
the death of the last Hyde in 1841, the house was torn 
down by order of the selectmen. Since that time Joim 
Zecher settled upon the place, and quite a village of Ger- 
mans has gradually grown up. 

We now return to the middle of the town, and enter 
Warren Street, west of the Unitarian Church. This 
picturesque and beautiful entrance to the street needs to 
be seen coming northerly^ instead of (foing in the oj)posite 
direction, in order to be fully appreciated. It would 
seem that in laying out this street, the fathers availed 
themselves of a natural depression in the rocky ledge 
for the street to pass through, as the rocks are high on 
both sides, but bear no traces of ever having been blasted. 
There is no bit of rock scenery in the town so pictur- 
esque as this, with the wild mosses and ferns growing 
from the crevices, and crowned with the woods on the 
one side, and the steep face of the little precipice on the 
other, covered with luxuriant vines, cultivated with all 
the resources of taste and skill. 

The first house in the street on the west, standing for- 
merly on the site of the house of the late Deacon Clark, 
was built by a John Shepard so long ago, that the date 
is not recoverable. The house was purchased by Dudley 
Boylston in 1722, who made it his residence. A few 
persons still live in the town who can remember it. One 
venerable lady, who was often in it, in her early child- 
hood, describes it as a black, gambrel-roofed house, stand- 
ing end to the street, fronting toward the place now 
owned by John L. Gardner. The sills were sunken level 
with the ground, and to enter it, one needed to step down 
instead of up. The whole interior was in keeping with 
the external appearance. 

Dudley Boylston was a son of the Peter Boylston 

23 



346 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

often before mentioned, — and a brother of Dr. Zabdiel 
Boylston; He was born about 1688, and married Eliza- 
beth Gardner of this town. He was the town constable 
for some time, and an old military commission issued in 
the time of Francis Bernard, Captain-general and Gov- 
ernor-in-chief, indicates his rank as " first adjutant of 
the first regiment, whereof Jeremy Gridley is Colonel." 

There was a lifelong sorrow in the family of Dudley 
Boylston, in the insanity of his daughter Mary, who was 
thus afflicted from eighteen years of age to eighty, when 
she died. 

After the death of the father, the homestead became 
the property of his son Joshua. He was a bachelor of 
reserved and stern manners, but a sagacious and practical 
man. The story of his courtship and marriage is a curious 
one. When he was nearly fifty-five years of age, in 
1783, he being one of the selectmen or school com- 
mittee, was at the annual dinner of that board of officers, 
which was then always served at the "' Punch Bowl." 
It was then kept by Eleazer Baker, whose sister Abigail, 
a cheerful, trim little body, about forty years of age, was 
attending upon the guests at table. 

Esquire Sharp, the town clerk and justice of the peace, 
— also a bachelor, was present. The two were well 
bantered by the rest of the merry company for their 
celibacy, and some one pressed Mr. Boylston for a reason 
why he had never married. He replied that he could 
find no one who would have him. 

To the astonishment of all present, Miss Abigail in- 
stantly remarked, — 

" I would have you, Mr. Boylston." 

" Would you ? " he asked incredulously. 

" Yes, I would." 

" Squire Sharp ! " said Mr. Boylston, " do you hear 
that. Publish us next Sunday morning." 



CURIOUS COURTSHIP AXD MARRIAGE. 14 1 

There was a laugh, and the matter was dropped as a 
mere joke. 

On Sunday morning no publishment appeared, and 
Mr. Boylston, taking an early opportunity to see Squire 
Sharp, desired to know the reason. 

"Why," said the Squire, "are you in earnest? I 
thought it was only a joke." 

" Publish me next Sunday, or I'll prosecute you," was 
the gruff reply of the sturdy old bachelor. The next 
Sunday morning the town was astonished at the an- 
nouncement which hung up in tlie vestibule of tlie little 
old meeting-house. Three weeks of probation passed, 
and all the gossips had enough to amuse them. 

]Mr. Bo3dston appointed the time for the wedding, to 
which his affianced agreed, at seven o'clock the following 
Monday morning, at Parson Jackson's. 

j\Irs. Jackson had her bed " in the best fore-room," 
and she had barely made herself and her room ready, 
when the couple made their appearance at the gate, each 
on foot, coming alone from their opposite homes. There 
was a few moments' conversation, and then Abigail came 
in, while her Joshua hastened down the street. He had 
forgotten to get a certificate ! With due speed he found 
Squire Sharp, obtained the necessary document, and re- 
appeared at the parsonage. A few moments more and 
Joshua Boylston ceased to be a bachelor. They lived 
together, as the story-books say, " in happiness ever 
after," — for twenty-six years. 

Tliere was one child by this marriage, a daughter Re- 
becca. Mr. Boylston died in 1804, at the age of 79. 
His widow lived till 1814. 

Deacon Joshua C. Clark purchased the old Boylstoi? 
house, and took it down in 1809, the Boylston family 
living^ at that time in the house on the corner of Washinir- 



348 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

ton and Cypress streets. He had a new house built for 
him by Nathaniel Murdock, on the old site, and when 
completed in all but the last details, it took fire and 
burned to the ground. The loss fell upon the carpenter, 
who had not delivered his completed work to the owner's 
hands. The townspeople rallied and raised a handsome 
sum towards remunerating him for his loss, and in a few 
months the present house was built, and Mr. Clark mar- 
ried Rebecca Boylston, and took possession of the house, 
in May, 1810. 

The yard of the old house contained great rocks, and 
all the space from the west side of the house to the great 
ledge in Mrs. Bowditch's garden in the rear of the green- 
house, and so westward over what is now called Lake- 
side, was thickly wooded. The ground around the house 
was leveled by filling the spaces between the rocks even 
with their surface, retaining only the one projecting end 
of the ledge, which now helps to make this old place so 
picturesque, overrun with climbing vines. 

We can hardly leave the Clark house and its in- 
habitants, without brief mention of one of its former 
inmates, an elderly maiden lady, known as " Miss Prudy 
Heath." She was from the Roxbury branch of the 
Heath family. There were no striking events in her 
life, or especially strong points in her character, to form 
the subject of a biographical sketch, yet she Avas just her 
own peculiar self, and as such was identified with Brook- 
line, and particularly with the First Parish. In this con- 
nection, her figure should stand in the picture of the 
times in which she lived, as an incidental part of the 
whole, as the milestone, the rail fence, or the wayside 
burdock is introduced by the artist in a corner of his 
canvas. 

Miss Prudence Heath was born in 1751 ; lived manv 



MISS PRUDKNCE HEATH. 349 

years in the family of the hist Robert Sharp, received a 
small property from her nephew, Mr. Samuel Gore of 
Roxbury, and then settled herself for life among the 
Clarks, living first in the house of Deacon Samuel Clark, 
at the corner of Walnut and Chestnut streets, till his 
death, and then removing to his son's house in Warren 
Street, where she spent the remainder of her days. 

jNIiss Prudy was not only quaint and unique, seen in 
the light of modern times, but in the days in which she 
lived, she was always, whatever might be the prevailing 
fashions, at least twenty years behind the times. She 
was a curiosity to children and strangers, whatever she 
might be to accustomed eyes, — with her immense black 
leghorn bonnet, and her great green silk umbrella, which 
she usually carried. There are persons to whom the 
sight of the plant known as succory, or blue vervain, 
which is still to be seen in waste spots, and along road- 
sides, often recalls the memory of Miss Prudy. This 
plant she gathered and dried, using its leaves as tea. 
Perhaps she would have resorted to its roots, had she 
known that it would become the famous chicory of mod- 
ern commerce, which forms no inconsiderable part of the 
coffee now drank by the multitude. 

So far as Miss Prudy 's own living and habits wer<j con- 
cerned, her Christian name might have been a synonym 
for her character, but to others she was truly generous, 
though a little vindictiveness flamed up occasionally, 
towards certain persons who had been unjust to her in 
her earlier da3"S. One of her greatest pleasures was to 
entertain her friends at tea, a ceremony which always 
took place at four in the afternoon. Then the '' young- 
Hyson, '' which was carefully hoarded for these festivities, 
sent up its steaming fragrance, the choicest cake, and 
the " presarved squince," in which she delighted, were 



350 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

brought forth from their hidden retreats, and Miss Prudy 
was as happy as the presiding genius of the most aris- 
tocratic festal board in the town. Once a year, at least, 
Dr. Pierce honored her humble apartment with his pres- 
ence on such an occasion, sometimes taking one of his 
family with liim, and very often Miss Prudy remembered 
her minister with a generous gift from her small income. 
Two silver cups are still in possession of the First Church, 
which were presented by her in 1818. 

This old lady was neither witty nor even facetious. 
She took life very much in earnest, yet her quaint 
speeches and queer ordering of words unawares, were 
sometimes as amusing: to her friends as wit mig^ht have 
been. When the Providence railroad was opened through 
Roxbury, at the crossing of Tremont Street, it passed 
through the farm of her nephew, Mr. John Heath, and 
necessitated the removal of the house which he then oc- 
cupied. Miss Prudy did not admire railways, — they 
were modern innovations upon which only the seal of 
evil Avas set, and her mind was a good deal exercised 
thereby. She visited in Roxbury at the old Gore place, 
by the crossing, and there examined the track, and came 
home convinced of its dangerous and mischievous ten- 
dency. The word " cars," she could not remember ; 
" stages," were her idea of travelling convej^ances. 
" Would you," she asked of her friends again and again, 
" would you ride in one o' them ravin' stages ? " for to 
her imagination doubtless a Revere disaster might be a 
daily occurrence. 

Poor old simple-hearted Miss Prudy, born in the mid- 
dle of the eighteenth century, lived long enough to see 
something of the grand march of the nineteenth, in 
which she at least had no part. She died in 1839, aged 
eighty-eight, a character as impossible to be reproduced 



WILLIAM EUSTIS. 351 

in these times, in this vicinity, as the ichthyosaurus, or 
the megatherium of geology. 

A little southeast of this house, on the same side of 
the street, stood for many years, in the earlier history 
of the town, a house owned and occupied by Josiah Win- 
chester, Jr. His son Caleb, and afterwards John Seaver, 
were his successors. The house was pm-chased and taken 
down during the last century, by the original proprietor 
of the house now owned by the heirs of the late Samuel 
Goddard. 

The wooded hill opposite was formerly the property of 
Deacon Samuel Clark. About the year 1822, Captain 
Benjamin Bradley built a house below, and in front of 
the woods. He rented it for some little time to various 
tenants, and at last sold it to ]\Ir. Jacob Eustis, an elderly 
gentleman who removed here from Saugus. 

Mr. Eustis had two sons, both of whom survived him, 
the one well known as Judge Eustis, who took up his 
residence at the South, returning often to Brookline to 
spend his summers. The other, William Eustis, was edu- 
cated for the profession of a pln'sician, but being of a sen- 
sitive temperament, and also predisposed to insanity, his 
mind became somewhat affected by troubles in his early 
manhood, and he never followed his profession. Instead, 
however, he devoted attention to horticulture, built a line 
greenhouse, and ornamented the place with choice vines 
and plants. He also was a teacher and afterwards super- 
intendent of the First Parish Sabbath-school for several 
years. His beautiful attention to his aged and widowed 
mother, his kindness and delicacy of feeling made him 
Avarm friends in all who knew him well, though by the 
unsympathizing world at large he was smiled at for his 
little peculiarities, and perhaps generally undervalued. 
His health was gradually undermined, and he sank away 



352 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

and died without any visible disease. His mother did 
not long survive him, and the place soon passed into other 
hands. The house has lately given place to a modern and 
much larger one. 

The house now owned by John L. Gardner was built 
by Captain Ingersoll early in the present century. 
Charles Tappan was the next owner of this place, and 
occupied it like his predecessor, ten years. His successor 
was Deacon Thomas Kendall of Boston, who also held a 
ten years' ownership. He was a prominent member of 
the Charles Street Baptist Church (tlien Dr. Sharp's) 
for many years. After some years' residence in Brook- 
line he connected himself with the Baptist Church in this 
place, in which he continued an influential and honored 
member till his death, at an advanced age. 

Deacon Kendall was the Representative of Brookline 
in the State Legislature for several years. He died in 
November, 1850. 

The house which has for many years past been the res- 
idence of the late Samuel Goddard or his heirs, was built 
in 1792, by Nehemiah Davis. 

At this time there Avere no other houses on the entire 
street, except the old Boylston house and the houses of 
the Winchesters, one of which, as mentioned before, he 
bought and took down. The farm connected with this 
place was very extensive. Mr. Davis occupied the house 
till his death in 1785. The next owner of any note, was 
Hon. George Cabot, a member of Congress, and after- 
wards Secretary of the Navy, in Washington's time, and 
a Federalist, in the old days when political animosity ran 
high between the conservatives and the democracy then 
just coming into power. The rancor between '' Feder- 
alists " and " Jacobins " was as strong as anything which 
as yet marks the conflict between the supporters of Re- 



WARREN STREET. 353 

])ublican and Democratic candidates, and each party called 
the other as unlovely names and was as unscrupulous as 
to truth and falsehood in politics as their descendants 
seem to be. 

Mr. Cabot was a retired sea-captain who had seen much 
of the world, and he bore hearty testimony to the desir- 
ableness of our town as a place of residence in his day, and 
to its many attractions. Mr. Cabot died in Boston in 
1>>23, aged seventy-one. He left three sons, and a 
daughter who became the wife of President Kirkland of 
Harvard College. 

Stephen Higginson, Jr., was the next owner of the 
place for a few years, but sold it to Captain Adam Bab- 
cock. The land which now comprises all of Mr. Gard- 
ner's place was sold off this estate to Captain Ingersoll, 
who married Captain Babcock's daughter. Both these 
gentlemen were also retired sea-captains. Mr. Goddard 
was Captain Babcock's successor in this house. 

]\lr. Goddard was one of the wealthy men of Brook- 
line. In early life he had been engaged in mercantile 
pursuits in Manchester, England. He returned to this 
town about 1838, where he resided till his death, in 
March, 1871. He was nearly eighty-four years of age. 

On the opposite side of the street, several acres of 
ground were once included in the Cabot estate. This 
was the corner lot bordering on Warren and Cottage 
streets. An old building, partly house and partly barn, 
stood on this lot, and was occupied by one of the first 
Irishmen who settled here. All that was between this 
and the estate before mentioned as Dr. Eustis's place, 
was early in the last century the property of Mr. Elhanan 
AN'inchester, grandfather of the preacher of that name. 
The old Winchester house stood almost on the site of 
the present Murdoch house. His son Ellianan (who 



354 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE- 

died a Shaker) was the next owner, and he sold to John 
Seaver and removed to the upper part of Heath Street as 
before mentioned. Mr. Seaver's estate went through 
many changes, and this lot of land became the property 
of the Hyslops. In 1799, Mr. David Hyslop sold the 
land to Nathaniel Murdock, a young carpenter, who had 
come into the town and was building the house of Hon. 
Stephen Higginson. The land sold included what is now 
the house lot of Mr. Charles D. Head. The house was 
built for Mr. Stephen Perkins, son of Samuel G. Perkins 
of Brookline. 

Mr. Murdock raised the frame of his own house (which 
still stands) on the last day of the last century, Decem- 
ber 31, 1799. On the first day of the year 1800 he 
boarded it in, and in the spring it was completed, and he 
occupied it from that time till his death, in 1837. 

A house which stood next it and was removed a few 
years ago by Mr. Sargent, was built by George Murdock, 
son of the former. 

The Cabot estate included all the land which has for 
many years past been the property of the Warren family. 
In the early settlement of the town, however, this place 
was the property of Josiali Winchester, father of Elhanan, 
who lived upon the Murdock place. The ancient Win- 
chester house was destroyed before the close of the last 
century. The descendants of the Winchesters still live in 
Brookline. 

On this place also stood an old gambrel-roofed red 
house, said to have been moved out from Boston. From 
the size and quality of the timbers and chimney, and the 
manner of building, it would seem to be very ancient. 
Mr. Warren, on purchasing the place, lived for a short 
time in this house till he could erect another, and then 
sold the old one to Captain Benjamin Bradley, who re- 



COLONEL T. H. PERKINS. 355 

moved it to his hill. It Avas the first house placed on the 
hill. In this house lived for many years Mr. Celfe, an 
excellent man, well remembered as the skillful gardener 
for Richard Sullivan, Esq., and Judge Jackson, and after- 
wards for the late John E. Thayer, in whose service he 
died, at an advanced age. Long before his death, liow^- 
ever, he had changed his residence. The old house was 
removed from Bradley's Hill at the time the other build- 
ings were transferred to Sewall Street, and is still doing 
service at '' Hart's Content." Whether it has finished 
its travels or still has further journeys before it, remains 
to be seen. 

The house in the corner between Warren and Cottage 
streets, w^as built for Samuel G. Perkins, brother of 
Colonel Thomas H. Perkins. 

The land upon the same side of Warren Street for 
many years past so highl}^ cultivated and so beautiful in 
many attractions, including the estates of James S. Amory 
and i\Irs. Winthrop, were never built upon until pur- 
chased by the present owners, and the wdiole area Avas 
known for many years as " tlie old huckleberry pasture." 
There are people now living in town who have gathered 
bushels of berries upon these places. 

COLONEL T. H. PERKINS. 

Colonel Thomas H. Perkins, though not a native of 
Brookline, Avas for so many years a resident and large 
tax-payer, that a brief sketch of his life seems in place 
in this history. 

He was born in Boston, December 15, 1764. His 
mother's father, for whom he was named, Avas a dealer in 
hats and furs. The family liv^ed in King Street, noAv 
State Street, and in full vicAV of the events of the " Bos- 
ton Massacre " in March, 1770. Colonel Perkins through- 



356 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

out his life remembered with great distinctness the im- 
pression made upon his childish mind by the sight of the 
dead bodies, and the blood wliich lay frozen upon the 
ground the next day. His father died when he was but 
six years old, and his mother, a woman of great energy, 
continued the business, and brought up her eight children 
with great credit to herself and to them. Her eldest son, 
James, on coming of age, went to the Island of San Do- 
mingo, in a ship of which his mother was part owner, and 
there was soon established in mercantile business. 

Thomas Handasyd, the second son, was educated for 
college, but being much more strongly inclined to an ac- 
tive business life tlian to a quiet literary one, he joined his 
brother in San Domingo. Having remained there for a 
time, the climate being unfavorable to his health he re- 
turned to Boston, where he attended to the business of 
the house in the United States, while his younger brother, 
Samuel G. Perkins, took his place in San Domingo. 

In 1788 he was married to the only daughter of Simon 
Elliot, Esq. (who afterwards came to reside in Heath 
Street). Mr. Perkins commenced married life in a most 
economical manner, as a matter of necessity, but soon 
turned his attention to the tea trade in Canton, to which 
place he made one voyage himself. During his absence 
our government was organized under the new constitution 
of 1789, and though heavy duties had been established, a 
stability had been given to trade which led to great mer- 
cantile prosperity. 

In 1792 the great insurrection of the slaves in San Do- 
mingo broke up the prosperous business of his two 
brothers, and obliged them to return to Boston, having 
narrowly escaped with their lives, and suffered great 
losses. They began anew in Boston, their trade being 
with China and the northwest coast, and eventually estab- 



COLONEL T. II. PERKINS. 357 

lislied a liouse in Canton. Colonel Perkins received 
his military title as commander of the battalion which 
forms the Governor's escort, he having previously held a 
lower rank in that body. 

i\[r. James Perkins settled at what is known as " Pine 
Bank " on the shore of Jamaica Pond. The house was the 
one which now stands opposite the Town House, owned 
by Robert S. Davis, and lately occupied by Dr. Sanford. 
It was sold, and removed from Pine liank about thirty 
years ago. 

Samuel G. Perkins settled at the corner of Cottage and 
Warren streets. 

Colonel Perkins about the beginning of the present 
century was chosen President of the Boston branch of the 
United States Bank, which was then quite a distinction, 
when there were so few banks. His own business was 
too pressing to admit of his holding this situation long, 
and he resigned after a year or two, and Hon. George 
Cabot was chosen in his stead. In 1805, Colonel Perkins 
was chosen a member of the State Senate, which place he 
held for nearly twenty years. 

He was very active in establishing the IMassachusetts 
General Hospital, and the Insane Hospital, his contribu- 
tion and his elder brother's being each eight thousand 
dollars for these purposes, an amount for those times equal 
to a very much greater one at present. 

In 1838 Colonel Perkins withdrew from business with 
a large fortune, and devoted his time to various public 
matters which interested him. He was especially noted 
as the generous patron of the Blind Asylum, to which he 
gave a fine large house in Pearl Street, Boston ; of the 
Mercantile Library Association, and of the Boston Ath- 
enanim. He was naturally a lover of the beautiful both 
in nature and art, and spared no pains in the importing 



358 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

and cultivating of choice plants and trees on his beautiful 
place in Warren Street, which was quite a resort for 
visitors from many places. He sometimes went far out 
of his way to enjoy an extensive prospect or examine a 
fine tree. 

An incident is related of the interest which he felt in 
the preservation of our Brookline elms. There was a row 
of magnificent elms through " the village," on the south 
side of the street from the lower part of Walnut Street, to 
the town line, — though this part of the village was then 
in Roxbury. Colonel Perkins riding by one day noticed 
a certain man who then lived in that neighborhood about 
to cut down two of them. He stopped and inquired into 
the necessity for such an act, and was informed that they 
shaded some cherry trees (two miserable little specimens 
not long set out). Colonel Perkins begged the man to 
spare the trees, telling him he would furnish him with 
cherries as long as he lived, but the obstinate old sinner, 
who seemed to delight in doing what annoyed others, es- 
pecially rich men, persevered, and not only cut down the 
two, but after a time, all the rest which bordered his land, 
thus depriving not only his own generation, but tliose 
which have succeeded him, of the grateful shade which 
would have redeemed that unattractive region of half its 
repulsiveness even now, had they been spared. 

Colonel Perkins being in Washington in 1796, was there 
introduced to General Washington, who invited him to 
his home in Mt. Vernon, where he spent two days. Some 
interesting incidents of this visit are related in his Me- 
moirs.* 

Colonel Perkins outlived both his brothers. His 
brother Samuel had died blind, and one of his own eyes 
was covered by a cataract for twenty years. The other 

* Memoirs of Colonel Thomas II. PerTcins^ by Thomas G. Carey. This 
highly interesting volume is in the Brookline Public Library. 



THK PERKINS HOUSK. 359 

eye became affected, and he was in danger of total blind- 
ness. A successful operation by Dr. Williams of Boston 
removed it, however, and he who luid done so much for 
others who were blind, was saved from that sad calamity 
himself. He was able to keep his books with his own 
hand till the last few months of his life. 

Colonel Perkins was a remarkably noble looking man, 
with the dignified manners Avhich characterize the gentle- 
men of the old school, now too seldom seen. 

In l(Sr)2, Daniel Webster presented him with a set of 
his published works, accompanied by a most complimen- 
tary note in his own handwriting. 

Colonel Perkins Avas not confined to his bed by illness 
a day, but died quite suddenly of prostration caused by a 
surgical operation, on the lltli of January, 1854, in the 
ninetieth year of his age. 

As early as 1740 there was a house standing upon tliat 
part of Colonel Perkins' place where liis farm-house has 
since stood. It was owned at that time by Christopher 
Dyer, and afterwards by his son William. 

Afterwards Joseph Woodward purchased it, and it 
finally passed into the hands of John Lucas, who at one 
time owned a large amount of real estate in this town. 
The rest of the land belonging to the Perkins' and also the 
Cabot place, was formerly the property of Hon. Jonathan 
INIason, Jonathan Jackson, ]\Ir. Heath, and others, but was 
not occupied by dwelling houses until purchased by the 
above-mentioned gentlemen. At the time Colonel Perkins 
built his house the site commanded an uninterrupted view 
of Boston, and Colonel Perkins so planned his house as to 
command the fine prospect from his parlor windows. The 
whole line of the Mill-dam, and the beautiful expanse of 
Charles River and the Back Bay were included in this 
extensive panorama. Trees and buildings long since in- 



360 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

terposed a barrier which shuts out this lovely view, and 
miles of streets with solid blocks of brick and stone houses, 
stand where the tide then rose and fell, and obscure Bos- 
ton Common from all the high points which once over- 
looked it. 

The old Cabot house, which stood upon the site of Mr. 
William Gray's present residence, was built for Mr. Sam- 
uel Cabot in the year 1806, by Mr. Murdock. During 
this year occurred the total eclipse of the sun, still re- 
membered by aged persons for the great darkness which 
prevailed, so that fowls went to roost and cattle returned 
to their various places of shelter. The workmen upon 
this house abandoned their tools, and in common with 
everbody else went out to witness the impressive spectacle, 
— all but one youth ; who declined to thus far trouble him- 
self. This hero was the future Capt. Benjamin Bradley. 
Those Avho remembered the man, will recognize the inci- 
dent as characteristic. The old family nurse indignantly 
expressed her opinion that " that fellow would live to be 
hanged." 

The next house was built in 1824 by Colonel Perkins, 
for his daughter, Mrs. Cabot, by whom it is still occupied. 

COTTAGE STREET. 

In continuing our sketches of Warren Street, we passed 
Cottage Street without mention. We now return to that 
street, as upon it was one of the earliest settlements in 
the town. 

Nearly upon the site of the late Captain Cook's cottage 
was the residence of Thomas Buckminster, who came 
hither from England in 1640. This ancient family dates 
back as far as 1216 in the English records. Thomas 
Buckminster, grandfather of the one who settled in this 
town, was the author of an almanac printed in London 



THOMAS BUCKMINSTER's FARM. 3G1 

in 1599, and a copy of this curious old book lias been 
preserved in tlie family down to the present time. 

Thomas Buckminster of IMuddy River was made a 
" freeman," as in the old meaning of the term becoming 
a communicant of the church was called, and received 
from the General Court a grant of a tract of land valued 
at ten pounds. 

His descendant, Mrs. Eliza Buckminster Lee, for many 
years a resident of Brookline, in writing of her ancestor, 
says : — 

" If we may infer anything from the selection of Thomas 
Buckminster's farm in BrookHne, he must have had an eye for 
])icturesque beauty. His dwelling stood at the foot of wooded 
heights, covered with a dense shrubbery, and fringed all up the 
rocky sides with delicate pensile branches and hanging vines. 
A ra})id brook descending from tliese rocky heights, ran past 
his door, spreading out and winding in the meadows in front. 
Jamaica Lake, a quarter of a mile distant, embosomed in beauti- 
ful undulations of hill and valley, slept tranquilly in full sight 
of the house." 

This place and neighborhood even yet retains much of 
the rural beauty which distinguished it in those remote 
days, and culture has added new attractions to the sur- 
roundings. 

The elder Buckminster died in 165G. His eldest son, 
Lawrence, returned to England. 

The wills of both these gentlemen are recorded in the 
Suffolk Probate office. Joseph Buckminster succeeded 
his father upon the farm in Brookline. His son Joseph 
married Martha Sharp, the daughter of the brave Lieu- 
tenant who fell in Sudbury fight, and removed from Brook- 
line to Framingham. A further sketch of this branch of 
the Buckminster family is to be found in the chapter on 

24 



362 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

• 

the Sharp family. From this Brookline couple descended 
the Buckminsters of Rutland, Mass., and afterwards the 
eminent Dr. Buckminster of Portsmouth, whose distin- 
guished son was pastor of the Brattle Street Church, 
and whose daughter, Mrs. Eliza Buckminster Lee, was the 
wife of Thomas Lee of this town, who brought his bride 
to this home of her remote ancestors to live on a part of 
the original Buckminster farm. 

There seems to be much obscurity about the history of 
this old place for many years, but in 1740 it was owned 
by Henry Winchester. For more than eighty years it 
was owned by his descendants, his son Joseph and his 
grandson Nathaniel being his successors. The last of the 
Winchesters who resided here died in 1808. The old 
Winchester house, as it was called, was taken down in 
1826. 

Captain Cook purchased the place and made it a taste- 
ful and beautiful residence. He also built t^vo houses 
near his own for his two sons, — one in the valley, and the 
other on the opposite side of the street. One of them 
lived in the cottage a short time only, and the other died 
without ever occupying the residence intended for him. 
The Captain and his wife both lived to a great age, and 
died in the house in the valley. The original place which 
he beautified, now the property of Mr. Jerome W. Tyler, 
is known as " Linden Terrace." 

The Lee place lies in Brookline, though the entrance 
to it is from Perkins Street in Roxbury. Mr. Lee 
was a great lover of natural beaut}^, and preserved the 
forest trees which adorned his place, and admired the nat- 
ural rocks with their wild mosses and vines about them, 
too much to permit them to be removed by blasting. 
What a man of less taste would have regarded as blem- 
ishes, he looked upon with the true eye of one who lived 



GODDARD AVENUE. 363 

close to the heart of Nature, and won from her many a 
secret. 

On this beautiful place his gifted Avife wrote several of 
the volumes which have become a part of the literature of 
the land, and in the unpretending cottage she died but a 
few years since. 

This place has since jNIr. Lee's death become the prop- 
erty of Ignatius Sargent, Esq. 

GODDARD AVENUE. 

This beautiful avenue, diverging at right angles from 
Cottage Street on the south side, takes its name from one 
of the old Brookline families. The original road was 
only a farm lane or cart-road leading to the farm and 
dwelling of the Goddard family. The principal entrance 
to tliis place from Brookline, however, was through land 
now on the Winthrop place on Warren Street. There 
was an old road through the woods also, toward Jamaica 
Plain, in the earliest days of the settlement, and a new 
road has been quite recently laid out over almost the 
same track. The part called Avon Street is of recent 
date. The old Goddard house still standing dates back 
a hundred years, but the original house, like the original 
family, was far more ancient than that. The family gen- 
ealogy, which has been carefully traced out and published, 
dates back to William Goddard, a citizen and grocer of 
London, who came to Boston in 1665. His wife and three 
young sons came the following year. They settled in 
Watertown, and there Mi\ Goddard was hired as a teach- 
er. An old record of that place reads as follows : — 

''March 27, 1G80. These are to certify tliat Mr. William 
Goddard of Watertown whome the said towne by covenanting 
agreed to teach such children as should be sent to him to learn 
the rules of the Latin tongue, hath those accomplishments, which 



364 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

render liim capable to discharge the trust (in that respect) com- 
mitted to him. 

(Signed) John Sherman, Pastor'' 

The second son of this William Gocldard, Joseph, born in ! 
London in 1655, was the first of the name who settled in j 
Brookline. He married in Watertown, Deborah Tread- \ 
way, and came to Brookline in 1680, and settled upon the \ 
farm where his posterity still live. 

His son John, and afterwards his grandson of the same ; 
name, succeeded him on the place. The latter, born in : 
1730, was a distinguished citizen of this town. During- 
the Revolutionary War Mr. Goddard was a commissary- 
general for the American army in this vicinity. 

During the seige of Boston Mr. Goddard was intrusted , 
with the command of three hundred teams, which worked ' 
in darkness and by stealth in constructing the fortifica- ■ 
tions on Dorchester Heights, now South Boston. The ; 
absolute silence of the men, the promptness and efficiency I 
with which they labored, and the success which crowned 
their efforts, were no doubt largely owing to the firmness, ■ 
courage, and tact of the sturdy patriot in charge. Captain ' 
Joseph Goddard, who at that time was a boy of fourteen, | 
was a driver of one of the teams under his father's direc- \ 
tion, and often described the event to his children and : 
friends now living. | 

Not a whip was allowed among the men on that moon- i 
light March night when the fortifications on the Heights i 
were the scene of such busy excitement, lest some incau- ■ 
tious crack might betray them, but the oxen were urged \ 
on with goads. The saplings for the fascines were cut in ■ 
the woods between Dorchester and Milton, and combined ; 
with fresh hay, made a light, though bulky material, \ 
easily piled up. No wonder that General Howe, looking j 
over from Boston the next morning, thought that " the • 



MR. goddakd's patriotism. 365 

Americans ha<l done more in one night tlian his whole 
army coiikl do in weeks." He did not know what had 
been going on in the woods within six mik?s of his army. 
Fonr or five pieces of cannon which had been concealed 
under the hay in Mr. Goddard's barn for weeks, were on 
this niglit stealthily removed to their destination, being 
taken round through Heath Street in Roxbnry, and placed 
in position on Dorchester Heights. 

In a shed or shop-building opposite the house, were 
several hundred pounds of gunpowder stored in the loft. 
A garrison of several soldiers occupied this building, liv- 
ing in the lower stor}^ while they and the patriotic heroes 
of the house knew that one unfortunate spark might at 
any moment blow them all into eternity. All this time 
a sentinel was kept on the Goddard place to guard the 
premises. 

The British officers (who were often out to Mr. Hul- 
ton's where Mr. Chapin now lives) and who were fre- 
quently entertained at the expense of a female Tory, who 
lived on the place now belonging to the family of the late 
Samuel Goddard, occasionally rode through the woods 
and about among the farm-houses, but they failed to dis- 
cover anything which compromised the wary patriots. A 
British deserter, however, found his way through the 
woods to this retired place one day, and coming in sight 
of the house, which was then quite new, and was hand- 
somel}^ painted, unlike most of the houses of the vicinity, 
was afraid to go to it. Seeing some men at work on the 
place, he ventured to approach, and inquired if that was 
" the Governor's house." He was taken to the house, his 
wants were kindly provided for, and after a good night's 
rest he was able to proceed in his laudable purpose of put- 
ting all the space possible between himself and King 
George's troops. Had one traitorous Tory or half-hearted, 



866 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



corruptible friend, discovered those cannon being drawn , 
quietly by night up that farm-lane to the hiding place, it | 
would have cost the brave old farmer his life. ; 

There was reason to believe, however, after a time, that 
suspicion had been roused respecting the concealed army i 
stores, and they were removed to Concord, Mr. Goddard '■ 
himself driving one of the teams the whole distance. i 

On one occasion when passing on horseback over 
Charlestown Neck, he overtook a loaded team. The dri- j 
ver was in some difficulty respecting his oxen, and Mr. | 
Goddard dismounted to help him. He stepped between \ 
the oxen, but in a moment his horse was startled, and he ] 
sprang forward to seize him. At the same instant a ball j 
fired from a British frigate in the river struck the ox-yoke 
and shivered it into fragments. 

Mr. Goddard was an eye-witness of the battle of Lex- ' 
ington, and on that memorable day a Brookline man who ; 
had no gun, but was eager for the fray, borrowed of INIr. \ 
Goddard a fowling-piece, which he carried into the fight, j 
During the action, however, the gun somehow was lost, j 
Several years afterward when Mr. Goddard was one day \ 
on his way to Sherborn, he stopped at the " way-side 1 
inn." There, on a rack over the wide chimney piece, he ; 
saw what he supposed to be the identical gun which had 
been lost. He asked permission of the landlord to exam- ; 
ine it, and at once on handling it, identified it beyond dis- 
pute. The landlord being convinced, gave up the gun to i 
its rightful owner, who brought it home, and kept it till his i 
grandson (our late Representative) was old enough to use \ 
it, when he gave it to him as a Revolutionary relic. It is ] 
still in existence among the Goddards, though it has gone | 
from Brookline. j 

When the American army removed from Boston to I 
New York, General Washington was urgent that Mr. j 



THE GODDARDS. 307 

Goddard should accompany them, but his hirgii family 
was a sufficiently strong reason why he should decline 
such service. 

Wiien the Federal Government was established, Mi-. 
Goddard was chosen as the Representative of this town 
in the State Legislature, from 1785 to 171>2. 

Mr. Goddard was twice married. His first Avife lived 
but two years ; the second, Hannah Seaver, a most ex- 
cellent, energetic, and highly esteemed woman, brought 
up a family of sixteen children. When some inquisitive 
or sympathizing friend in later years asked how slie man- 
aged with such a host of little ones, she laughingly replied 
that she " put leather aprons on them all and turned them 
out to play." 

Mrs. Goddard is still remembered, and her virtues are 
often recounted. Mr. Goddard removed in the latter 
part of his life to the house now occupied by George W. 
Stearns, opposite the old Reservoir, and in this house he 
died, in 1816, at the age of eighty-six years. ^Jrs. God- 
dard also died at the same age, in 1821. 

John Goddard, born 1756, the eldest son of this couple, 
was a child of delicate and sensitive organization, but 
great powers of mind. When less than nine years of age 
he had committed to memory and recited to Rev. Joseph 
Jackson of the First Church, the whole book of Proverbs, 
and the 119th Psalm. He attended the Brookline schools, 
and entered Harvard College just before the Revolution- 
ary War. He was interrupted in his course by a long 
and severe fit of illness, and by the events of the war, but 
notwithstanding maintained a high rank in liis class. He 
graduated in 1777 as a physician, a student witli the 
highly esteemed Dr. A. R. Cutter of Portsmouth, but 
owing to his delicate health preferred to commence busi- 
ness as an apothecary. He obtained a situation as sur- 



368 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

geon on one of our armed vessels, intending thus to go to 
Spain to procure his stock, which the war prevented him 
from purchasing in England. On the way, however, the 
vessel was captured by the British, and he with the rest 
of the officers were carried as prisoners to one of the West 
India Islands. Here he was brought to the verge of death 
by a terrible fever, which so emaciated his body that 
when convalescent he crawled through a port-hole of the 
prison-ship and escaped by swimming to a vessel which 
put him on his way to the United States. Just before 
he reached home, however, this vessel was captured, and 
he was again a prisoner. Another exhausting fit of sick- 
ness followed in the same prison-ship from which he had 
escaped. He so far recovered as to make his escape once 
more, and this time reached home in safety, but the shock 
to his constitution was so severe that he never fully re- 
covered from it. 

After the war was over he married Susanna Heath, 
daughter of Mr. John Heath of Brookline, and settled in 
Portsmouth, where he engaged in the drug business. 
His talents every way fitted him for eminent public life, 
and he was, contrary to his wishes, elected Governor of 
New Hampshire, which office he however positively de- 
clined to accept. He was also chosen Senator to Con- 
gress, but being as decided in this as in the former case, 
the country was deprived of the services of an excellent 
man. He also enjoined upon his sons a similar absti- 
nence from public life ; for what reason we are not in- 
formed. One can hardly help wishing such delicacy might 
oftener prevail, but not in cases where it would deprive 
the country of the services of true and competent men. 

Mr. Goddard was married four times. His second mar- 
riage, to Miss Jane Boyd, was soon terminated by her 
death. The third wife was a daughter of Dr. Langdon 



THE GODDARDS. 369 

of Portsmouth, formerly President of Harvard College. 
The fourth was Anne White of Brookline. 

Mr. Goddard died in Portsmouth, but some of his chil- 
dren have returned to reside in tliis home of their ances- 
tors. One of the sons of Dr. John Goddard is the Rev. 
Warren Goddard of Bridgewater, a graduate of Harvard 
College, in the class of 1818. He was for some time Pre- 
ceptor of Princeton Academy. Rev. Mr. Goddard is one 
of the oldest and ablest ministers of the New Church, or 
the denomination oftener known as Swedenborgian. His 
son. Rev. John Goddard, of Cincinnati, is also a distin- 
gished exponent of the same faith.* Richard Langdon 
Goddard, another son of Dr. John Goddard, is a mer- 
chant of Xew York. These gentlemen were sons of the 
third Mrs. Goddard, President Langdon 's daughter. 

iNIr. Joseph Goddard, who settled upon the farm of his 
father in Brookline, was, during his long and prosperous 
life, a prominent citizen of Brookline. He was a justice 
of the peace for many years, and was captain of the mili- 
tia of the town. He married Mary, a daughter of Samuel 
Aspinwall, of this town. Of the twelve children of Mr. 
Joseph Goddard, several are widely known. The eldest 
daughter married Captain George W. Stearns, and their 
numerous descendants are among our highly respected 
townspeople. One of his sons is our late Representative, 
and another is Samuel Aspinwall Goddard, of Birming- 
ham, England, whose name deserves to be held in per- 
petual and honored remembrance, for the invaluable ser- 
vices rendered our country by his patriotic pen during the 
late rebellion. Though from his early manhood he has 
been a resident of England, and was even naturalized 
there by act of Parliament, he has ever retained a pro- 

* Rev. Warren Goddard of High Street Church, Brookline, is a younger son 
of Mr. Goddard of Bridgewater. (1874.) 



370 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

found respect and love of his native land, its government, 
and its institutions, worthy of the son of his distinguished 
and patriotic ancestry. 

From the beginning of the Rebellion, when England 
in unfraternal haste was eager to recognize the Southern 
Confederacy, with its basis on slavery, and rebel emis- 
saries both Southern and English Avere filling the columns 
of the British papers with false statements respecting 
both North and South, Mr. Goddard's pen was untiring 
in its refutations of these falsities. His clear and exten- 
sive knowledge of his native country, and of England, his 
familiarity with history, his utter detestation of any tyr- 
anny of man over his fellow man, and his fearlessness in 
daring to write the truth, the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth, over his own signature in the face of oppo- 
sition and hate, all fitted him to wield the pen, for the 
cause of right, with a force that made it mightier than 
the sword. If his grandfather, toiling by night within 
range of British bullets, did faithful service in establish- 
ing our national freedom, not the less did his own power- 
ful pen do glorious service in guarding that freedom 
against British plotting with home traitors to overthrow 
it. To no one man's efforts are we more indebted for 
the failure of the British to recognize the Southern Con- 
federacy among the nations, than to those of Mr. God- 
dard. John Bright himself recognized and acknowledged 
the strength Avhich he received in his own honorable 
course from INIr. Goddard's able statements and unan- 
swerable arguments. 

Mr. Goddard received his only school-education in the 
old brick school-house near the Unitarian Church, but he 
may be called a self-made man. To a man with his 
powers of mind, all of life is education, and strength is 
gathered from a thousand resources scarcely known to the 



THE GODDARDS. 371 

mere student of the classics. The boy who has awakened 
in him a love of books, and knows how to use them, 
holds the key to all knowledge, and life and nature will 
be his teachers. 

The articles which he wrote for the various British 
papers have been reprinted in a large volume, and will 
form a valuable reference book for the future historian. 
This work has been presented to our Public Library 
by A. W. Goddard, Esq., and is worthy of a place in 
every library. 

Captain Joseph Goddard was a man of energetic health, 
until the last few months of his life. He died in 1846, 
aged eighty-six. 

Another prominent citizen of this town, born in the 
old house, was Mr. Benjamin Goddard, who lived op- 
posite the Reservoir. He was a man of intelligence and 
much influence, though he never would accept or hold 
any public office. He acquired much wealth and lived 
to a great age, being over ninety-five years of age at his 
death. His brothers, Nathaniel and William Goddard, 
were successful merchants, A son of the latter is one 
of the owners of ^' Bradley's Hill."* There are branches 
of this family in Worcester County and other places, all 
of whom originated in Brookline, from the first Goddard 
family. Mr. Samuel Aspinwall Goddard, having oc- 
casion to investigate a case in England, which led to re- 
searches into the remote history of his family, a few 
years since, was successful in tracing back this old family 
in an unbroken line to the time of William the Con- 
queror. On this side of the water, the name bids fair 
to exist as long, at least, as that of any other family of 
New England. No other house and land in Brookline, 
except the Aspinwall possessions, have been so long in 
one family. 

* Now called " Clifton Hill." 



372 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

i 

The first Joseph Goddard found this place in possession 
of WilHam Marean, son of Dorman Marean, who was 
the first white settler upon it. From Joseph Goddard's 

time down to the present, there have been six generations . 

born upon the place. The present old house was built j 

in 1761, but has been kept in thorough repair and sub- 1 

jected to occasional improvements, so that it would not | 

be supposed to be more than half that age. From the | 

retirement of this secluded Brookline farm-house, have \ 

gone forth men whose strength of character has made ! 

them a power in society, both at home and abroad. | 



CLYDE STREET. 373 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CLYDE STRKET. NEWTON STREET. " PUTTERIIAM." THE 

CRAFT PLACE (nOW THE DENNY 1'LACE). — THE OLD SAW- 
MILL. SOUTH STREET. ANCIENT HOUSE ATTACKED I5Y 

INDIANS. JAMES GRIGGS. THE KENDRICKS. 



C 



LYDE Street dates back to the year 1715, when it 
was voted, November 21 : — 



" That there should be an open way laid out from the south- 
west part of Brookline (to wit), from the road that leadeth 
from Jamaica to Erosamond Drew's saw-mill, across to Sher- 
burne Road, so called, which accordingly was effected by the 
selectmen, viz.. Captain Samuel Aspinwall, Thomas Stcdman, 
and John Winchester, Jr., who have agreed with all the pro- 
prietors, and the damage by running said way through their 
property, has been paid as appears in the account book of said 
Town of Brookline. The aforesaid hiohwav, beirinnino: at the 
road leading from Roxbury to Mr. Drew's saw-mill, as afore- 
said, near Isaac Child's house, on the east of said house as it is 
staked out, and running northwardly through Isaac Child's land, 
to the land of Samuel Newell, and then turning a little toward 
the east, running through the laud of Joseph Dudley, Esq., then 
turning northwardly and running through or upon part of 
Joshua Child's land, being part of the ' Bowers Farm ' so called, 
tlien entering upon the land of Thomas AVoodward to the land 
of Joseph White, then turning a little toward the east, running 
to the land of the heirs of Jonathan Torrey, late of Brookline 
(alias Muddy River, deceased), then running northwardly to the 
road or lane, known by the name of * Woodward's Lane,' to the 
road commonly known by the name of ' Sherburne Road.' " 



374 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

It seems to come next in order, tliougli not in date. 
" The road that leadeth from Jamaica to Erosamond 
Drew's saw-mill," was what is now Newton Street ; the 
lane known by the name of " Woodward's lane," was 
that part of Warren Street leading from the present 
westerly entrance of Clyde Street to Heath Street. 

There was no house on Clyde Street until after this 
date. The corner lot now owned by Mr. Cowan* was 
formerly a part of the estate of John Ackers, being used 
by him for a pasture. There was land on both sides of 
the street, belonging to Joseph White. The lot on the 
west side of Clyde Street, just north of the avenue lead- 
ing to the estate of W. H. Gardner, w^as in the early 
part of this century owned by John Lucas, and was 
called " the Lucas pasture " long after it became the prop- 
erty of Timothy H. Child, an eccentric old man, known 
as " Daddy Child," though he was never married. He 
sold the pasture to Mr. Cabot some twenty-five years ago. 

On the land lying between Mr. Gardner's place and 
the '' Stock farm," so called, where there is now a young 
grove growing up, stood one of the earliest houses built 
in the street, probably the very first. This was built by 
Andrew Allard, afterward occupied by William Wood- 
ward, and last by " an old countryman," probably a Scotch- 
man, named Vaughn. This man died at a very advanced 
age in 1775, and the old house was not long after de- 
molished. The house now occupied by George Gold- 
smith was built by John Woodward, brother of William, 
at some time previous to 1740, as it was then standing. 
The Woodwards were a numerous family in this part of 
the town a hundred years ago. After the Woodwards, 
Deacon Joseph White owned it, and then John Corey, a 
distant connection of the Coreys of Washington Street. 

* Now by the heirs of the late Mr. Cowan. 



THE SPOOLER PLACE. 375 

He died in 1803, and a cabinet maker, Erastiis Cliamp- 
ney, was the next owner. John Dunn, a gardener to 
]Mr. Higginson, next owned it, and sold it to tlie present 
proprietor. 

The old house on the extensive place formerly known 
as " the Stock farm," now Clyde Park, was built pre- 
vious to 1740, by Samuel Newell. He left it to his son 
John, who was succeeded by Gulliver AVinchester. 

Another house a few rods to the east, on the same 
place, was begun by Robert Holt, the next resident of 
the old house, but Avas completed by Dr. Spooner, of 
l)Oston, who lived here in summers for many years, but 
died in Boston in 183G. After him it was occu})ied for 
a while by Curtis Travis, a butcher, who moved away 
and died. There have been many residents upon this 
place, but none who have specially identified themselves 
with the interests of the town. On this place, however, 
was born Hon. George S. Bout well, late secretary of 
the treasury. William B. Spooner of Boston was also 
born on this place. The stone posts and iron gates at 
the entrances to the avenues were originally at the Park 
Street and Charles Street corners of Boston Common. 
When the iron fence was built around it, these were sold 
and brought to the Spooner place. 

The land at this end of Clyde Street, on both sides, 
was, at the time of the laying out of the street in 1715, 
the property of Isaac Child. At this point we enter 
Newton Street, but to describe the places on this ancient 
street, in their order, we will begin at the point where 
Newton Street enters Brookline, from Roxbury. This 
Avas one of the early highways of the town, and had as 
many, if not more houses upon it a hundred and more 
years ago, than it has at present. There are two or three 
old and somewhat poor looking houses near the town line. 



376 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Nearly on the site of one of them, which looks like an 
old country school-house, formerly stood a house built 
early in the last century by Timothy Harris. It will be 
remembered by many Brookline people as the residence 
of Alvin Loker. It was destroyed by fire more than 
twenty years ago. Next it is a small, old-fashioned house 
close to the street, on the site of one also owned a hun- 
dred years ago by Timothy Harris. The present house 
was built in 1805, by his widow, and was afterwards 
occupied by the eccentric old bachelor, before mentioned 
as " Daddy Child," or Timothy Harris Child. Various 
anecdotes are related respecting his oddities, as leaving 
off his farmers' frock on a certain day in the spring, by 
the calendar, without regard to the weather, and putting 
it on in the autumn, equally regardless of the season. 
Between these dates he was never known to wear it. 
He had a certain routine, which he followed, in taking 
down a pair of bars, and from which he never varied. 
It would seem quite desirable that a mind so inclined to 
run in grooves should get started in the right ones, but 
perhaps the best thing he ever did, was one the most 
unlooked for. He was for many years addicted to the 
excessive use of liquors, and returning from the store 
one day with his customary black jug of rum, he met 
one of his neighbors, who said to him : — 

" Mr. Child, I'll tell you what is the best possible use 
you can make of that black jug of yours." 

" What is that ? " he asked. 

" Why, you just carry it up to the top of the hill there, 
and bury it," was the reply. 

"• Well, I'll do it," said the old man, and he carried 
the black jug to the top of the hill, dug a deep hole and 
buried it, and never dug it up again. From that time 
forward he drank no more liquor, and was as steady as 



MOUNT WALLEV. 377 

the most fjiitliful adlierent to a temperance pledge. One 
might wish many modern jugs and bottles could share a 
similar fate. 

^'E^VTOX STREET, " PUTTERHAM." 

Passing westward on Newton Street, we reach " the 
old Walley place," so called, afterwards known as '^ the 
Tilden place." This old, square, hip-roofed house has 
had many owners. It was built early in the last cen- 
tury, but is still apparently in tolerably good condition. 
Joshua Child was its first owner and occupant. His de- 
scendants, of another name, still live m our town. The 
Hon. Samuel H. Walley was for many years a resident 
here, and the place took its name from him. 

The high hill, now known as Mount Walley, was 
during the Revolution one of the outposts of A\'ashing- 
ton's line of circumvallation around Boston, and from 
here a watch was kept (as from all the principal hills) 
upon the enemy's movements. A local tradition has 
always been preserved that Washington at one time 
visited tliis outpost, and entered the house of Joshua 
Child. 

Soon after passing this place, we come to the point 
where the new extension of Goddard Avenue opens upon 
Newton Street, thus making a — we had almost ^aid, 
direct communication with Cottage Street, througli the 
once secluded acres of the Goddard farm. We consider 
again and write circuitous^ instead of direct. Perhaps 
there were the best of reasons for the remarkable curves 
which this street describes, only it seems a litth' singidar 
that when so much pains and money are spent to 
strai<jJite)i^ at the expense of fine shade trees, in some 
parts of the town, there should be such an apparent 
enthusiasm for curves in other phices where it is difficult 

25 



378 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

to discover anything gained by tliem. But we leave the 
problem for the initiated. 

The next house upon the street, dating back any length 
of time, is the one now owned and occupied by W. A. 
Humphrey. This house was built by Isaac Child, who 
had died and left it to his son Isaac, previous to 1770. 
There are no traditions of historical interest that we can 
learn respecting it. It was occupied, after the time of 
the Childs, by Elisha Whitney, then by Major Asa Whit- 
ney, his son, and afterwards for many years by Samuel 
Hills. The house has been raised and greatly improved 
by its present owner, and is one of the most attractive 
places on the street. 

A long avenue on the opposite side of the street, led 
in, to a remote house owned and occupied in the last 
century by Robert and John Harris. The third and 
last John Harris died at a great age in 1831. It must 
have been somewhat like pioneer life to have lived in 
this out of the way region, even within the last fifty 
years. 

On the northwest side of the street, at some distance 
further on, stands the little, one-story temple of learning, 
long known as " Putterham school-house." The origin 
of this name, " Putterham," which long clung to this 
picturesque part of our town, has been for years a prob- 
lem, unsolved, to the minds of the dAvellers in the lower 
and populous part of the town. There seems to be an 
innate love of applying absurd, ridiculous, or grotesque 
titles to certain localities, and hardly a country town but 
has its " Purgatory," or " Squash End," or " Grab Vil- 
lage," or " Skunk's Misery," or some other ill-savored 
appellation for soniQ particular, spot. But the euphonious 
title of " Putterham," seems to have been exclusively 
reserved for the southwest part of our beautiful town. 



PUTTERIIAM SCHOOL-IIOUSK. o « 9 

In seokiiifij to sift the matter to its orif^in, we have been 
informed by more than one of the okl inliabitants that 
there was, or is a little spot of meadow land beside New- 
ton Street, about half-way from the school-liouse to New- 
ton line, on which a Imndred years ago, a man, who was 
a sort of shiftless do-little, might be seen " puttering," 
from day to day the season through, by any passer-by. 
But no results ever were to be discovered, and that lot 
of land received the nickname of Putterham, wliich 
gradually extended over a much wider region, till it 
became common for the dwellers in the populous parts 
of the town to designate all this sparsely settled section 
of the town as Puttei'ham, and the school-house and the 
saw-mill also shared the title. A better taste is now 
casting this old name aside. 

The little old building above alluded to stands on tlie 
site of one which was no ornament to the neighborliood, 
and was destroyed by fire some fifty years ago. The 
present building, though small, has of late years been 
kept in repair, and meets the wants of the thinly settled 
neighborhood. The beautiful woods and rocks by wliich 
it is environed, afTord the children delightful recreations 
not to be found in the neighborhood of elegant public 
buildings and concrete pavements. "Foot-ball" and 
'' tag," ought to be at a discount where the wikLvines 
cling and the velvety mosses and gray lichens grow, and 
the oaks drop down their shining acorns, and the bold and 
saucy squirrels chatter almost within arm's reach. 

Many a beautiful lesson may be learned in this wild 
region not sc.'t down in " Colburn's," or mapped out by 
(iuyot, but perhaps quite as useful in cultivating eye, and 
head, and heart, and quite as strength-giving against the 
weary days that are sure to come to us all sometime. 



380 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

" Still waits kind Nature to impart 

Her choicest gifts to those who gain 
An entrance to her loving heart 

Through the sharp discipline of pain." 

A few rods west of the Newton Street school-house, on 
the opposite side of the street, there stood formerly an old 
house Avhich was built and occupied by William Davis, 
who died there in 1777. The house had many OAvners 
afterwards, and was, when too old for further use, demol- 
ished in 1809. Traces of the old cellar are still to be 
seen. On the west side still further on is a somewhat old 
house still owned and occupied by members of the Wood- 
ward family. The next really old house is on the oppo- 
site side of the street just above the junction of South 
Street. On the site of it in the early days of the settle- 
ment stood a small house, owned — as was the farm with 
which it was connected — by Abraham Chamberlain. 
His heirs sold the farm, excepting the house and ten acres 
of land, to Caleb Crafts.* The remaining land and the 
house were bought by Thaddeus Jackson. On the same 
spot, after taking down the original house, Joshua Wood- 
ward, an uncle of ^Irs. Jackson, built the hous3. It was 
occupied by him for some time and he died there during 
the Revolutionary War ; Thaddeus Jackson, too, resided 
there till his death in 1832, at a great age. This old house 
stands endwise to the street, and has a long sloping roof 
in the rear. 

The next house is interesting for its great age and the 
old families connected with its history. This is the old 
Crafts house on the Denny place. It has been thoroughly 
repaired and painted, and now looks not unlike the old 
houses seen on country roads, that were formerly kept as 
taverns. Its great age would not be suspected by a cas- 
ual observer. This house was built by Vincent Druce in 

* This name is quite as frequently spelt Craft. 



THE OLD CRAFTS HOUSE. 381 

the latter part of the seventeenth century or beginning of 
the eigliteenth, and is therefore nearly two hundred years 
old. Obadiah Druce, son of John, and probably a 
nephew of Vincent, inherited the house and spent his 
days there. John Druce, the third of the name, was a 
graduate of Harvard College in 1738 and settled as a 
physician in Wrentham. 

An interesting item is preserved respecting the first 
John Druce. It seems that he was a soldier in Captain 
Prentice's company, a troop of horse, in King Philip's 
War, and in July, 1675, was mortally Avounded in tlie 
battle near Swanzey. He was brought home and died 
in his own house ; he was but thirty-four years of age. 
His son John, who w^as but a child then, w^as probably 
the father of the doctor who settled in AVrentham. 

Deacon Ebenezer Crafts of Roxbury, next purchased the 
house. This family in all its branches in Roxbury and 
Brookline traces its pedigree in this country to Griffin 
Crafts, wdio came from England among the earliest settlers 
in this vicinity. His son Ebenezer w^as the builder of the 
old house opposite Hillside on " the Roxbury road " or 
Tremont Street, which bears its date, 1700, on the chim- 
ney. In this house the Deacon Ebenezer Crafts above 
mentioned, lived in his youth. He married Susannah, 
daughter of Samuel AVhite, Esq., of Brookline. The de- 
scendants of this couple have been and still are promi- 
nent among the inhabitants of Brookline. 

Elizabeth Crafts, a daughter of theirs, born in 1747, 
was the lady long known as " Aunt White," a sketch of 
whose life has been given. There is an old letter written 
by her in her youth to a young friend, inviting her to 
come and visit her at the old farm-house on Newton 
Street. It is written in rhyme, and describes the domestic 
life of those days w^ith quaint simplicity. 

Her brother Caleb, a few years older than herself, hold 



382 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

a lieutenant's commission during tlie War of the Revolu- 
tion. Many of tlie old military orders which he received 
are extant. Among them is the following : — 

Needham, Jan. 31, 1778. 
Sir, as the TransPorts are Soon Expected for the purpose of 
CarriHg Burgoynes' army to Europ — ^^I am directed to detach 
from my regt 86 men repair to Castle Island to do doty there 
untill the troops are embarked and gone out of the harbor. You 
are directed to detach from your Company one Corporal and five 
men for the above Purpose and see that they are armed and 
accutred according to Law with a good Blanket and two days 
Provision and hold themselves ready to march on the shortice 
nots to the above Postes, Let no Time be lost. 

"your humble serv't 

"Wm. McIntosh, Col. 

" P. S. The fine is ten pounds if they refuse to march or Pro- 
cure some able Boclaid man in his roome in twenty-four hours 
after he is detached as aforesaid." 

The old pay-roll of a company of twenty-five Brookline 
men who served under Lieutenant Crafts at Dorchester 
Heights contains the names of Williams, Weld, Gore, Wis- 
well, Mann, and other well-known names in this vicinity. 

All the men wrote their own names but one, who was 
obliged to make his '' mark." 

A list of men who enlisted as "six months' men" in 
the service for special duty in the Northern or Canada de- 
partment, contains their agreement to provide themselves 
with '^ a good effective fire-arm, and if possible a bayonet 
thereto, a Cartridge box and blanket or in lieu of a Bay- 
onet a Hatchet or Tomahawk." 

During a great part of the Revolutionary AVar, Lieuten- 
ant Craft commanded under Captain Thomas White, in 
the Brookline Company, but among the curious old docu- 
ments of those times is a note from a Captain Mayo, under 
date of Roxbury, July ^th, 1778, as follows : — 



MILITARY EXPERIENCE OF 1782. 383 

'' Sur, Mr. Coller is cum to Do Duty in room of his Sun for 
a few days for won of the men of my Company, I Ex[)ect tluit 
you will have anotlier man to-morrow. 

'" To Lieut. Craft in Dortichter, 

'' Thomas Mayo, Capt." 

Under date of 1782, July 9, we find a notice from the 
Selectmen to Lieutenant Crafts as follows : — 

" Si?% The witliin is tlie fifth class in said town, which we the 
subscri])ers liave classed in order to procure a man for the Conti- 
nental army for three years or during the war agreeable to a re- 
solve of the General Court of March last of which we have 
appointed you the head. 

]> AVuiTE ^ 

John Goddard >• Selectmen.'* 

W Campbell ) 

" N. B. You are obliged to Notifie all the Inhabitants of your 
Class to meet within four days in order to procure a man or you 
will be oblidged to answer for all deficiencies." 

On the inside are the following names : — 

Caleb Crafts o7 £. 

Wm Ilyslop 122 " 

Abr Jackson 8 " 

Thad. Jackson 45. 15 

Sol. Child 49. 10 

Nath'l Griggs 1. 5^ 

John Harris 29. 15 

Isaac Child 50. 

Mary Boylston ' 24. 

Gulliver Winchester 30. 

Isaac Gardner 74. 10 

Several names of non-residents follow variously rated. 
Under date of Brookline, August 23d, 1782, we find 
the following action taken upon the above order : — 



384 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

" Tills certifies that I Samuel Whipple of Hardwick in county 
of Worcester and State of Massachusetts Bay do Engage and 
oblige myself to procure two Good and Lawful able bodied men 
to Inlist and Serve as Soldiers for the Town of Brookline in 
the county of Suffolk and state aforesaid for the Term of three 
years for the Consideration of sixty pound for Each man, viz, 
for Class No 3 & No 5 Whereof Benjamin White and Caleb Craft 
are heads. Said men are to be inlisted and mustered at or be- 
fore the thirteenth day of September next and in falier thereof I 
Do Promise and oblige myself to pay all Damage that Shall 
arise on Sd Classes thereby as witness my hand, 

" Samuel Whipple." 

■ Several orders issued before and during the Revolution 
bear the autograph of Captain, afterwards General Wil- 
liam Heath. 

We turn from the military experience of the old Craft 
family for a brief glance at the domestic life of those an- 
cient days, for nothing seems to bring the past so com- 
pletely witliin the scope of our apprehension as a glimpse 
of the little daily vicissitudes which came to them as to 
us, small things in themselves, and yet which make up a 
large part of life. 

Deacon Crafts' family, like other well-to-do people of 
this colony in those times, employed slaves. He had 
bought a negro girl named Flora, for the sum of one hun- 
dred and five pounds. We copy the following letter, now 
nearly a hundred and forty years old, in all its quaint 
simplicity. It was written by Flora's former master to 
Deacon Craft. 

" Sr, I am sorey you did not Lett me see you yesterday. I 
perseve you still meet with troble with the Negro which I am 
Exceeding sorey to hear as I told you at your houes I intended 
you no harme but good. I did bye you as I wold be done by & 
I still intend to do by you as I wold be done by if I ware in your 



AN UNCOMFORTABLE SERVANT. 385 

Caess, but however you must think as to the Sale of the Nri,n"o 
it is — by means of selling her to you for it is all over town 
that your cliscurege and wold give ten pounds to have me take 
her agane. I appcrehend I had better given you twenty pounds 
tlian ever you had been consarned with her I would not a 
tlianked anybody to have given me an hundred })ounds for her 
that morning befor you carred her away l»ut however seeing it 
is as it is, we must do as well as we can I wold have you con- 
sult with the Justes and Consider my case allso and do by me 
allso you would be done by. if I had your money as the Justeses 
bond I should be under the same consarn that I am now pray 
Lett me see you if you please and if we can accommodate the 
matter to both our Sattesfiictun I shall be verey free in the mat- 
ter that is if I hear no Refiecsions for I do declare I was sensere 
in the whole mater. 

" from yours to Serve, 

"Ebenezer Dorr. 

''January the 6 1735-G." 

An uncomfortable servant for whom one had paid over 
a hundred pounds was not so easy to get rid of as a dis- 
orderly Bridget from the intelligence office whose place 
niiglit be filled in three hours by one still more recently 
imported, and matters getting worse, the case was left 
out to referees consisting of '' Messrs. Edward Ruggles of 
Roxbury, Thomas Cotton of Brooklyne, and Mr. Joseph 
Warren of Roxbury," who were to ascertain the pairticu- 
lars of the case and decide upon the best settlement of it 
l)etween ^Ir. Dorr and INlr. Craft. It was decided by 
them in the course of a fortnight, that jNIr. Dorr should 
take '^ the said Flora," back, and Mr. Craft should give 
him fifteen pounds in bills of credit, and Mr. Dorr pledged 
himself in case he should sell the girl to any other party 
for over ninety pounds that " the overplus of the sale shall 
be returned to said Ebenezer Craft, and the said fifteen 
pounds to Remain to me." And so the troubled domestic 
waters probably ran smooth again. 



386 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Edward Ruggles first appears in Brookline on this wise, 
in the town records ; — 

" Agreed with John Winchester, Jr., for his man Ed Rug- 
gles, to keep school at the new school house two months, he 
beginning Wednesday January 23, 1711-12, allowing for his 
services £4 jDcr order of Selectmen." 

From time to time allusions to him occur in old papers. 
No doubt " Ruggles Street," indicates the vicinity of 
the place where this old Brookline school-master or his 
children settled, or at least owned lands. There were 
Ruggleses in Roxbury, however, in 1632-37. The old 
Dinah mentioned in connection with the White family 
was a slave in this Craft family all the earlier part of her 
life. 

Deacon Craft was eighty-six years of age at the time of 
his death, in 1791. His son Samuel received from his 
grandfather, Samuel White, Esq., the gift of a farm on 
what is now South Street in this town, and has ever 
since been known as the Craft place. He was about to 
marry Ann, daughter of Deacon David Weld, and in- 
tended to occupy this place, but he died in 1775, aged 
thirty-nine, and the farm came into his father's posses- 
sion. 

In 1791, it was purchased by the lieutenant, Caleb, 
his brother, who continued to live in the Druce house on 
Newton Street, till his marriage in 1812, to Jeruslia, 
daughter of Benjamin White, who had married Sarah, 
daughter of Captain Samuel Aspinwall, From this mar- 
riage descended the present Craft family in South Street. 
His second marriage was to Sarah, daughter of Robert 
Sharp. From this marriage descended the Craft family 
on Washington Street. Caleb Craft lived, like his father, 
to be above eighty years of age. He died in 1826, in the 
house which he built in South Street. 



EROSAMOND DREW'S SAW-MILL. 387 

His son Caleb, also a grandson of tli(; same name, 
lived upon the farm in South Street ; the Newton Street 
house was sold by his son Samuel, who removed to the 
lower part of the town. All of his children have settled 
in other places, and there are no young people growing 
up in the town to keep up this respected old family name. 

''EROSAMOND DREW'S SAW-MILL." 

On the western side of Newton Street there is an exten- 
sive tract of land which is comparatively an unknown re- 
gion. Once heavily timbered, the original forest was cut 
away, and no heavy timber has since been allowed to 
grow there, yet it is an unreclaimed wild covered with 
birches, alders, red maples, and many trees of larger 
growth. Bears lingered there long after they were exter- 
minated elsewhere, and foxes, musk-rats, minks, owls, and 
other wild game have until recentl}^ and do perhaps still 
tempt adventurous sportsmen to tramp through these 
rocky and swampy fastnesses. 

The land lying hereabouts, on both sides of the street, 
both in Brookline and in Newton to tlie extent of several 
hundred acres, was in the year 1G50 conveyed by Nicliolas 
Hodgden of Boston and Brookline, to Thomas Hammond 
and Vincent Druce, the same who built the old house 
before described. 

Erosamon Drew, Avliose name is spelled in six different 
wa3^s in old documents, came from Ireland in his youtli. 
He married Bethiah, Vincent Druce's daughter. The elder 
Druce, who seems to have been a wealthy man for those 
times, left his son-in-law considerable property. 

A most curious and elaborate old deed dated in 1G88 
conveys a tract of sixty-four acres of woodland for fifty- 
five pounds to Erosamon Drew from " Vincent Drusse and 
Elizabeth his wife," in which an imperfect Iv scrawled V 



388 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

for bis name, and E for hers, are their only attempts at 
penmanship. 

An examination of the new map of the town will show 
a slight curving bit of road- way near Newton line, diverg- 
ing from the street on the left, and joining it again at 
New^ton line. 

The passer-by upon the street would scarcely notice 
the grassy entrance to this curve, and perhaps fail to ob- 
serve, unless attention were called to it, an old roof, to 
be seen almost on a level with the street, below the brow 
of the hill. Yet this curved bit of road was the original 
street or old road dipping down into the valley, for what 
good reason nobody now living knows, unless it was 
because down here was " Erosamond Drew's saw-mill," 
and there must be a way to get to it. 

A brook which is the natural outlet of Hammond's 
Pond, flows through the swampy lot opposite and under 
the road. It is nearly concealed by rank bushes and 
young trees, beyond which is a large open meadow, which 
still annually yields many tons of hay. This extensive 
tract is the property of numerous owners, and is desig- 
nated in ancient deeds as " the Grate meddows," also 
" Saw-mill meadoAvs," and far and near colloquially as 
" Ponica." These meadows were flowed to obtain 
water-power enough to run the saw-mill, on leaving which 
after passing under the old road-way, the water emptied 
into another tract of land called '' Bald Pate Meadows," 
there forming a mill-pond for another saw-mill which stood 
a short distance below, many years ago, in the edge of 
Newton. Its site was plainly to be seen a few years 
ago (and may be still), though it long since yielded to 
the superior advantages of its Brookline rival. 

Below the level of the road down the declivity of the 
hill, and standing endwise to the now deserted and grassy 



EROSAMON DRKW. 389 

old road-way, is a low house (the roof of wliluli was above 
mentioned), falling into ruins, though still inhabited.* It 
is not less than two hundred years old, and perhaps more. 
This was Erosamon Drew's house, and over the brook 
close to it stood his saw-mill, and here all the sawing of 
boards for miles around was accomj)lished. The owner of 
the saw-mill was evidently a thrifty and good citizen, as 
he held various offices of trust in the town, being one of 
the selectmen, assessor, a member of the grand jury, and 
one of the committee on building the First Church. 

There were three sons of Erosamon and Bethiah Drew 
who died young, or at least unmarried. 

Ann, the only child of this parentage who lived to 
marry, was born in IG80. In 1710, she became the wife 
of Samuel White, Esq., and was the jMadani Aim AVhite 
of whom an account has been given. 

Ann White, a daughter of this marriage, became the 
wife of Henry Sewall, son of the chief justice of that 
name. 

One of her sons married into the Sparhawk family of 
Cambridge ; there are also descendants of one of the 
daughters still living bearing the names of Walcott, and 
Ridgway ; from one of the sons comes a branch of the God- 
dard family, so that there are still lineal descendants of 
Erosamon Drew in existence, in several names, or fa>nilies, 
as it will be recollected that in the history of the Craft 
family, it was stated that Deacon Ebenezer Craft married 
Susannah, daughter of Samuel and Ann White (Drew). 

An old deed of Isaac Hammond in 1693 conveys land 
bordering on the saw-mill lot, to Erosamon Drew. By 
another deed in April, 1731, Drew conveyed ten acres of 
his land to his son-in-law, Samuel White, " by reason and 

* Since the above was written we learn that tlie building has been demol- 
ished. 



390 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

in consideration of the Love, good-will and affection which 
he hath and doth bear toward him," which was certainly 
a very substantial proof of his satisfaction with his daugh- 
ter's marriage. 

This deed was witnessed by James Allen, the first min- 
ister of this town, and " hugh scot," but Erosamon Drew's 
signature, alas, was only " his mark," a round scrawl, for 
he could not write his name. 

The deed was acknowledged before " Samuel Sewall, 
J Pacis," and rounds off in sonorous Latin, " Annoq Reg- 
nis Regis Georgius Magna Brittanica quarto," etc. 

Li August of the same year by another deed he gave his 
house and all his movable property to his son-in-law, 
wife and two children, for his being ^' helpful to him in 
his old age." Li fact, from 1711 to this last date he seems 
to have been at short intervals bequeathing all his worldly 
goods to this beloved son-in-law. The grave-stones of all 
the Drews are still to be seen in Newton cemetery. The 
last of the Drews was gone before the middle of the last 
century, and large portions had been sold off the Druce and 
Hammond property, and that part of Samuel White's land 
which he inherited from his wife's father. 

In the Revolutionary times this great tract, which still 
lies wild, was in the hands of Tories, who it is said secured 
some of King George's cannon and hid them in the thick 
woods, intending when the right time came to use them 
for the royal cause. But that time never came, and the 
Tories were forced to escape to the British Provinces, 
where they stayed till their property was confiscated. It 
was sold, and divided among many owners, and so remains. 
The old saw-mill came into the hands of Captain Curtis of 
Jamaica Plain, and afterwards of Edward Hall, who for- 
merly was a blacksmith on Washington Street. 

For manv vears Erosamon Drew's old house was called 



" HUCKLEBERRY TAVERN." 391 

"the huckleberry tavern," because the tenant then occu- 
pying it was skillful in making a kind of \vine from the 
abundant huckleberries of the surrounding pastures, and 
on election days and other festive occasions, the scattered 
residents of the adjacent parts of Brookline and Newton 
often resorted thither for the mild stimulants of society 
and huckleberry wine. The old saw-mill was taken down 
about twenty-five years ago ; Time with the slow fingers 
of decav is takinij: down the old house. It is a curious old 
place, the roof behind sloping almost to the ground. A 
part of the old flume and some of the stone underpinning 
of the saw-mill are still to be seen. 

The extensive meadows through which the brook flows, 
and which were once rich with cranberry vines, are now 
all bush-grown. The old road down which teams drew 
heavy logs and took away the finished boards, is so nar- 
row, rough, and w^inding, as to be almost unsafe. At the 
side of the road near the end of the house is a little patch 
fenced with brush, which was this very summer* blooming 
and gay w^itli purple amaranths and other well-kept flow- 
ers, which lent a bit of brightness to the lonesome and 
otherwise neglected spot. The picturesque old place is 
a fit one for the location of the scenes of a poem or a 
novel. 

SOUTH STJIEET. i ^ 

South Street, formerly known as the old upper road to 
Dedham, extends from Newton Street to the extreme 
southerly corner of the town, where it enters West Rox- 
bury. Several years ago a short cut was opened from 
Newton Street to South Street, beginning nearly opposite 
the old school-house on Newton Street, and ending on 
South Street at the Craft place, materially reducing the 
distance and avoiding a hill, in the journey from Brookline 

* 1872. 



392 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

to Dedham. This short street, which as yet has scarcely 
a house upon it, is known as Grove Street. The old way 
through the upper end of South Street is very little used, 
and probably few of the modern inhabitants of Brookline 
have explored it. It is such a road as one finds in moun- 
tain regions or backwoods, narrow, rough, and crooked, 
and heavily bordered with Avild bushes, vines, and trees, 
nearly concealing the low, mossy old stone- wall laid up by 
the forefathers. It is a wild, picturesque, country road, 
such as few frequenters of the City Hall would believe to 
be in existence within six miles of that renowned locality. 
There is no need of exploring Berkshire or the White 
Hills for retirement or country scenes, while South Street 
is unvisited by county commissioners and their inevitable 
followers, the surveyors, and the corps who reduce the 
face of nature with the axe, the pickaxe, the shovel, and 
the tip-cart. 

It will be curious to observe, when once a railroad 
crosses this section of the town, with what rapid strides 
the changes which have quietly bided their time for two 
hundred and forty years, will walk through South Street. 

On the corner of Newton and South Street, stood a 
century ago an old blacksmith's shop, the property of 
Abraham Jackson, who was farmer and blacksmith. Be- 
ing right on the way to the saw-mill, there was probably 
quite a business in his time, a hundred years and more 
ago, and till since railroads have been built, much teaming 
from Newton and travel to and from Dedham passed this 
corner. In 1712 Abraham Jackson was one of the survey- 
ors of the highways. The old house which stood on 
South Street, on the same spot now occupied by Mr. Good- 
nough, had double or folding doors in front, and persons 
who can recollect it, well remember how battered those 
heavy oaken doors were by tomahawks of the Indians, in 



OLD HOUSES ON SOUTH STREET. 393 

a desperate attack made upon it. Thaddeus Jackson, Jr., 
who was his grandson and lived in the old house, often 
related the tales of those stirring old times Avhich he Inward 
from his grandfather, in whose day Indians and bciirs 
were not unfrequently found prowling about these i)arts 
of Brookline. 

A few rods south of the present Crafts liouse stood a 
house once owned by Samuel White, Esq., who gave it to 
his grandson Samuel Crafts (as mentioned in a previous 
chapter), wdiicli was once occupied by " Hugli Scott," 
whose, name appears frequently on old documents, but of 
whom we can ascertain but little. The old Crafts house 
near the corner of South and Grove streets, was mentioned 
on a previous page as having been built within the pres- 
ent century, by Caleb Crafts. On the opposite corner, 
around the modern house built by his grandson, grow 
many beautiful things which find their way to the charm- 
ing exhibitions in Horticultural Hall. This is the last 
house in the town. On the opposite side, a little further 
south, on land which is now included in the Crafts and 
Weld places, stood, two hundred years ago, a house which 
was the dwelling of James Griggs, one of the early inhab- 
itants of the town, the same who was appointed to "seat 
the meeting-house," was " tithing-man," and altogether, 
probably, a good church-goer of the old orthodox type till 
he became a '' New Light " in Rev. Mr. Allen's day, and 
went off with the seceders to listen to Rev. Mr. Hyde's 
preaching in the old Winchester house. From tlieiice 
we hear little of him. He was a relative of the families 
of the same name in other parts of the town. 

Thomas Kendrick built a house a few rods south of the 
one last named, which would now be considered a curiosity, 
its site being but a few rods from the boundary line of tlior 
city of Boston. It was one story high only, of but two 

26 



394 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

rooms. It was lighted by little windows of diamond- 
shaped glass in leaden sash, which swung on hinges, like 
doors. There was no paint within or without and the best 
room was papered with old newspapers, not being even 
plastered. The only ascent to " the loft " was through a 
trap-door by a well worn ladder, and in a similar way 
access was had to the cellar. Thomas Kendrick married 
a Griggs, from the family above mentioned, and James 
Griggs' son George, at one time lived here. After the 
death of Kendrick his widow married Jacob Hervey or 
Harvey. 

The Kendrick family, not now represented in Brook- 
line, will be remembered by many, chiefly by an old 
lady who died about twenty or more years ago, after a 
long and helpless illness, during which she was supported 
by the town, yet during all this time had successfully con- 
cealed several hundreds of dollars, which of course reverted 
to the town by way of compensation, after her death. 
This person was the wife of Thomas Kendrick, Jr. Ja- 
cob Harvey, his step-father, was a soldier in the service of 
the town in Revolutionary times. An old document, dated 
1781, is still preserved, in which eight of the old citizens 
of the town " promise to pay Jacob Harvey on conditions 
of his serving as a soldier in the Contenantal army for the 
term of three years unless sooner regulerly discharged 
. . . the sum of fifty hard dollers and three thousand 
seven hundred and 50 of the oald Contenantal Dollers 
and to deliver at his hous in said town Four Cords of good 
Fire wood." This was to be repeated each year or frac- 
tion of a year thereafter that he remained in the service. 
An old receipt for a part of this money sign^ed by his wife 
'' Marey Hervey X her mark," is also extant. Mr. Her- 
vey died in 1812 aged 68 years. 

Thomas Kendrick, Mrs. Harvey's son, distinctly remem- 



THE KENDRICK HOUSE. 395 

bered seeing men at the time of the Lexington and Concord 
battle running across lots in this neighborhood guided by 
the sound of the firing, and jumping fences in their eager- 
ness to reach the scene of the fray, taking their course 
back of Walnut Hills and through Newton. 

The old house became so dilapidated that Mrs. Ilarvey 
for the last ten years of her life spent her winters with a 
married daughter in Boston, but she was always impa- 
tient for Spring to come that she might return to her 
country residence, or " hut " as she called it. After the 
old lady died, in 1826, the house was taken down. The 
land on which it stood is a part of the Weld place. It is 
a rocky and beautifully wild country place thereabouts, 
on one side of the street almost covered with forest trees. 
There are no other buildings in the town on South Street, 
and this closes the description of the town in this direc- 
tion. 



39(5 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

HIGH STREET CHURCH. — CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR. GOS- 
PEL CHURCH. — LOCAL INDUSTRIES. 

T^HE churches of BrookUne, which have been estab- 
-■- hshed withm the last quarter of a century, can 
hardly be reckoned among the fitting subjects of a series 
of sketches belonging almost exclusively to the past, yet 
to omit a part of them simply because they are modern, 
might seem an invidious distinction. There are other 
reasons also, why a sketch of the High Street Church, more 
generally known as the Swedenborgian, may be presumed 
to be of some interest, for there is probably no religious 
society in the community of which so little is known by 
outsiders, nor of which such mistaken ideas are prevalent. 

A few members of the Boston Society of the New 
Jerusalem, in Bowdoin Street, became residents of Brook- 
line twenty or more years ago. There was then no pub- 
lic conveyance on Sundays, and these few worshippers, 
of a like faith, met for occasional religious services, and 
a little Sunday-school, in private parlors. Sometimes 
an omnibus was chartered, and these persons thus re- 
sorted to their own church on such occasions as seemed 
desirable. 

In 1852, worship was first held in the Town Hall, the 
numbers increased, and in April, 1857, a society was 
formed. The first minister was Rev. T. B. Hay ward. 
His connection with the church continued until 1861. 
He was succeeded the same year by Rev. Mr. Ager. In 



DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH. 397 

1862, the temple in High Street was built. i\Ir. Ager 
continued with this church until 1864, when he was 
called to the pastorate of the society in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
where he still officiates. He was succeeded in Brookline 
by the Rev. S. M. Warren. Mr. Warren being called 
away to Europe for an indefinite period, his place was 
temporarily filled by Rev. Abiel Silver, who divided his 
time between this church and a little body of worshippers 
at Boston Highlands. A society was soon formed there 
which outgrew in numbers and means, the little church 
in Brookline, and soon took occasion to appropriate the 
services of the pastor altogether to their own needs. 
Since that time the Brookline society has been without 
a regular minister, except as various clergymen have been 
hired for longer or shorter periods.* The question is often 
asked, *' What do the Swedenborgians believe ? " We 
append the following '' Doctrines of the New Church," 
from the Liturgy or Book of Worship, page 69. 

1. " That there is one God ; that in Him is a Divine 
Trinity, called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ; that 
these three are distinct, and at the same time united in Him, as 
the soul, the body, and the operation are in man ; and that the 
one God is the Lord Jesus Christ. 

2. " That saving faith is to believe in Him as the Redeemer, 
Regenerator, and Saviour from sin. 

3. " That the sacred Scripture is Divine Truth ; that it is 
revealed to us as a means by which we may distinguish between 
good and evil, by which we may be delivered from the influence 
of evil spirits, and by wliich we may become associated with 
angels and conjoined with the Lord. 

4. '' That we must abstain from doing evil, because it is of 
tlie devil and from the devil ; and that we must do good because 
it is of God and from God. 

* Rev. Warren Goddard, Jr., of Bridgewater, was installed as pastor of this 
church in April, 1874. 



398 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

5. " That in abstaining from evil and doing good we are to 
act as of ourselves ; but we must at the same time believe and 
acknowledge that the will, the understanding, and the power to 
do so are of the Lord alone." 

To this creed, nothing more and nothing less, is re- 
quired the assent of those who would become members 
of the New Church. 

It seems almost too absurd to believe, in these late 
days of intelligence and liberality, that any person can 
be found who believes that New Church people are wor- 
shippers or blind devotees of Swedenborg, yet well mean- 
ing and religious people are to be found in our own 
community who do believe such things, and also the 
ridiculous and oft repeated calumny, that New Church 
people " set plates for departed friends." Any one who 
would learn even a little of the theory of the future life 
as held by this sect, would find that it is not believed in 
the New Church that persons in the body are seen or 
heard by those who have passed into the spiritual world, 
that their existence is purely spiritual, and that all con- 
nection with material things has ceased. No person has 
yet been found who ever saw a person, or knew a person 
who "set plates for departed friends." The story has 
been traced to the ignorance of a servant in a Philadel- 
phia family years ago, and never could have gained such 
general credence but for popular prejudice against what 
was new and untried. For modern spiritualism, the New 
Church has neither sympathy nor sanction. On the 
other point, worshipping of Swedenborg, or blind faith 
in a fanatic, whichever it may be called or supposed to 
be, perhaps the above quotation of the doctrines of the 
church should be a sufficient answer. 

It may not be amiss, however, to state what the church 
knows about Swedenborg, and why it believes him at all. 



SWEDENBORG. 399 

Emanuel Swedenborg was born in Stockholm, in 1688, 
of excellent parentage. He was made a nobleman in 
1719. In 1722, he entered upon the duties of '^ Assessor 
Extraordinary of the Board of Mines," to which he was 
appointed by Charles XII. He was admitted a member 
of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, in 
1729. He published many learned scientific works be- 
tween 1710 and 1734, nearly all of which were written 
in Latin. His society was sought by the most learned 
men of Europe, and many of his theories and positions 
on various scientific topics, which were not accepted by 
the men of his times, have been found by modern scien- 
tists to be true. In 1740, he published in a large quarto 
volume his " Economy of the Animal Kingdom." In 
1745, at the age of fifty-four, Swedenborg relinquished 
his scientific pursuits, and devoted himself to studying 
theology and unfolding the great truths of the Bible. 
Swedenborg never preached, wrought miracles, or at- 
tempted the founding of a new sect. He wrote his 
elaborate and voluminous works, published them at his 
own expense, and placed them in all the principal libra- 
ries of Europe. His works are nothing more than a 
commentary on the Bible ; but they differ from those of 
all other commentators in this, that while others have 
given their own views of the meaning and design of the 
different parts or subjects upon which they treat, Sweden- 
borg says nothing as of himself, but constantly says that 
it was given him by the Lord. This remarkable state- 
ment would be enough to condemn the whole thing, were 
his explanations of Scripture arbitrary, confused, or con- 
tradictory ; but they are instead, clear and consistent, and 
founded on a plan of interpretation which is a science in 
itself, — the science of correspondence. 

There is evidence in the old heathen writers and in 



400 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BKOOKLINE. 

Egyptian and other hieroglyphics that the knowledge of 
such a science once existed. It inheres in the nature of 
things, and is the invention of neither Swedenborg nor 
any other man, any more than the truths of mathematics 
are man's invention ; calling it fanciful or visionary does 
not make it so. Swedenborg was never insane, he lived 
an honored, useful, and quiet life and died a peaceful 
death, at the age of eighty-five. He is venerated as a 
wise and good man, but not worshipped, any more than 
the old churches worship St. Paul, St. Augustine, or 
Chrysostom. It is not deemed necessary to any man's 
salvation, by this sect, that he shall accept the teachings 
of Swedenborg or any man or body of men. Those who 
can receive these teachings may do so profitably, — for 
those who cannot, enough truths of the Bible lie apparent 
to the simplest consciousness to prove of saving value if 
followed. Every year the principal doctrines held by the 
New Church are being more widely disseminated, and are 
permeating the mass of worshipping Christians of every 
sect. They are preached in pulpits of every denomination 
and received as food for the soul by many who would reject 
them as poison if they knew the source from whence their 
preacher had gathered his materials, and to whom he is 
indebted for the consistency of his theology. 

The test of a person's religion should be the life which 
it causes him to live. There are inconsistent professors 
in all churches, but we think if tested by the standard of 
life, the main doctrines of the New Church, love to God 
and good will to man, will be found not a whit behind 
those held by other churches, in making people fit to live, 
and thus fit to die. 



EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT LONG WOOD. 401 



CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR, LONG WOOD, A MEMORIAL 
CHURCH. 

Tlie visitor at Longwood, approaching from Chapel 
Station, would at once be struck with the neatness and 
good taste apparent everywhere. The Church of Our 
Saviour, tasteful in external designs and surroundings, is 
in its interior appointments and decorations a model of 
beauty, exquisite in every detail. The parish was organ- 
ized on the 19th of February, 1868. The church build- 
ing was the gift of Dr. William R. Lawrence and Amos 
A. Lawrence, Esq., as a tribute to the memory of their 
honored father, Amos Lawrence, and is an appropriate 
and beautiful expression of filial regard for a beloved and 
noble man, whose character deserves to be held in perpet- 
ual remembrance. 

The organ, which was built expressly for this church, 
by the Messrs. Hook, was the gift of Mrs. Amos A. Law- 
rence, in memory of her mother. The beautiful baptismal 
font was presented by Mrs. F. W. Lawrence, also as a 
memorial gift. 

The architect of the building was Mr. Esty, of Fra- 
mingham. Prominent among the members of this society 
in its organization, besides the various branches of the 
Lawrence family, were Messrs. Samuel L. Bush, S. H. 
Gregory, the late Commodore George S. Blake, Mr. Wil- 
liam C. Hitchborn, and Dr. Robert S. Amory. 

The first public service was held March 22, 1868, at 
which time the present Rector, Rev. Elliott D. Tompkins, 
began his work. The church edifice was consecrated by 
the late lamented Bishop Eastburn, on the 29tli of Sep- 
tember following. 

Although it is not quite five years since this church 
was organized, there are eighty or more communicants. 



402 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

and the flourishing Sabbath-school numbers over ninety- 
scholars. A sewing circle was also organized and com- 
menced its useful work the first year of the existence of 
the society. 

GOSPEL CHUKCH. 

Gospel Church, sometimes called "the Sears Church," 
with its massive walls and square tower, a substantial and 
beautiful building, is a curious anomaly in church history, 
having a pastor and a sexton, but no church or congrega- 
tion. The building was erected by the late David Sears, 
before there was any other church in Longwood, at his 
own expense, with the expectation that all sects would 
unite in common worship within its walls. He prepared 
a Liturgy or Book of Worship expressing his own ideas 
on religious matters, for regular use in the church. The 
well-meant plan was a failure, and the building stands a 
memorial of the good intentions and fallacious hopes of 
the wealthy projector whose mortal remains slumber be- 
neath it, and whose design failed, only because it is, or 
seems to be, a moral impossibility for human beings to lay 
aside their sectarian prejudices and together worship one 
God in whom all profess to believe. Worship was main- 
tained for a time, but the attendance was so small that it 
was finally abandoned. 

This completes the list of the eight Brookline cliurches. 
Though three are at present without pastors, all except 
the last mentioned seem to enjoy a fair share of pros- 
perity, and each in its way is a force for good in the com- 
munity.* 

LOCAL INDUSTRIES. 

It is customary to record, in the history of a town, 
some account of its various industrial interests, but Brook- 

* Since the above was written two of the churches have obtained pastors, 
and the Methodists are established in the former Congregational church, so that 
there are now nine churches. 



LOCAL INDUSTRIES. 403 

line being but a suburb of Boston has little to offer in 
that line, though one of the richest towns in the State, 
for its size and population. 

From its settlement, until after the second war with 
England, it was a region of farms, and no more beauti- 
ful or skillful suburban farming was to be found. After 
the period above mentioned, a number of Boston gentle- 
men purchased land, and made for themselves delightful 
country seats here, thus adding greatl}^ to the wealth and 
attractions of the town. From that time forward there 
was a steady increase of population and wealth, and 
farm after farm has been cut up into house lots, until only 
the remoter tracts of land can be used for this purpose, 
and the majority of the inhabitants are business men of 
Boston. 

For many years the market gardens of the Wards, 
Davises, Moses Jones, the Stearnses, Griggses, Coolidges, 
Coreys, Crafts, Whites, and others, furnished the earliest 
and choicest fruits and vegetables for Boston market, 
and the elegant green-houses of Messrs. Perkins, Cabot, 
Higginson, Gardner, Thayer, and others were the finest 
in the vicinity of Boston ; for then horticulture was not 
established as a regular occupation, and strangers were 
admitted by courtesy to admire their beautiful treasures. 

The one wharf which gives Brookline any occupation 
on its river front, has been kept for many years by E. M. 
Abbott, as a lumber wharf. Of late the Messrs. Cousens 
have made it also a depot for the storage and sale of 
coal and wood, its area having been increased. The 
Boston and Albany Railroad Corporation own an exten- 
sive tract of land near this wharf, where a perfect net- 
work of rails cover the ground, and the Grand Junction 
Railway diverges, crossing the river and conveying thou- 
sands of tons of produce for export, daily, to their wharf 
at East Boston. 



404 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

For nearly twenty years past, until quite recently, the 
manufacture of knit woollen goods was carried on by 
Joseph Turner & Sons. The only other business, not 
merely local, of a mechanical kind, is the manufacture of 
philosophical instruments, by the Messrs. Ritchie. 

In 1868, E. S. Ritchie & Sons removed their manu- 
factory of philosophical instruments from Boston to Ran- 
ter's Building, Brookline. Their establishment has been 
for many years the largest manufactory of instruments 
and apparatus illustrative of physical science, particularly 
in the higher grades, for colleges, etc., in the country. In 
later years the principal branch of their works has been 
the manufacture of marine compasses, particularly of 
such as are known as liquid compasses, invented and 
patented by the senior member of the firm, and which 
are now solely used by the Navy of the United States, 
and very largely by the mercantile marine of the country. 
A form of this instrument, specially designed for the 
purpose, was used on the monitors during the late war. 

The Messrs. Ritchie have lately built a magnetic ob- 
servatory on Gorham Avenue ; a neat octagon building, 
designed by T. P. Chandler, Jr., for the use of the 
Bureau of Navigation, of the U. S. Navy. It is built 
of wood and copper, no iron being employed, and is fur- 
nished by the Bureau, with the most delicate instruments 
known to science, for the adjustment and testing of 
compasses. All such instruments used by our Navy are 
here inspected and tested by the Superintendent of Com- 
passes of the Navy. 

A chair shop, which employs steam power, has within 
a year been established on the north side of Brighton 
Avenue ; but recent legislation seems to indicate the 
speedy annexation of this part of Brookline to Boston. 

Several florists add the attractions of their beautiful 
vocation to the embellishment of Brookline, of whom 



RURAL BEAUTY. 405 

Mv. Richards, of Clyde Street, and George Craft, Esq., 
of South Street, have acquired an extensive reputation 
for the culture of the gladiolus. Miss Tobey, of Linden 
Place, has also a lovely green-house, which deserves a 
liberal patronage. The reports of the various horticul- 
tural exhibitions in Boston, show that the grapes and 
pears of Brookline, as well as its flowers, are annually 
conspicuous among the choice products which adorn the 
tables on these occasions. 

Those who have known and loved the Brookline of 
the past, cannot but regret the necessity which, in some 
cases, and the want of a cultivated taste in others, dic- 
tates the building of crowded houses so close together 
that every vestige of rural beauty is sacrificed, and that 
the chief attractions, which have for years made our 
town proverbial for its charms, are rapidly disappearing 
before the march of greedy speculation. The central 
and southwestern portions of the town still preserve their 
old time reputation for beauty, and for several years past 
the elegant green-houses and grounds of Ignatius Sar- 
gent, Esq., have been a centre of attraction in spring, 
when through the generosity of the proprietor the ad- 
mirers of floral beauty have been freely invited to wit- 
ness the magnificent displays of azaleas, which have 
made the place famous. 



406 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE MILITARY HISTORY OF BROOKLINE. 

npHE part which was borne by our town in the War of 
-*- the Revolution, has been incidentally treated of in 
our account of the various houses, families, and old forti- 
fications. 

The second war with Great Britain, so unpopular in 
New England, was regarded here in the same spirit as 
elsewhere. It will be remembered that it was during 
this war that our townsman. Col. Thomas Aspinwall, 
distinguished himself by valiant services, and lost his 
arm. 

Brookline was called upon during the war to furnish 
militia for harbor defense, and a company was sent, of 
which the old muster-roll reads as follows : — 



" Men^s names who were detached Septeynher 18, 1814, hy 
order of Col. Joseph Dudley^ for the defence of the State. 

"Lieut. Robert S. Davis, Ensign Thomas Griggs, Sergt. 
Daniel Pierce, Fifer, Thomas Chubbuck. 



David Smith, 
Joshua Loring, 
James Whidney, 
Charles Leavitt, 
Wm. M. Tenant, 
Samuel Townseud 
Amasa Jackson, 
Joseph Whitney, 
Eli Hunten, 



Thomas Farnsworth, Charles Stearns, Jr. 



Joseph Goddard, 

Edward Hall, 

Nathaniel Talbot, 

John Graves, 

Jonathan S. Ayres, 

William Otis, 

John Vose, 

George Richardson, 
who will report immediately to Fort Independence for three 
months, unless sooner discharged." 



James Holden, 
Artemas Fairbanks, 
William Atwood, 
George Morse, 
Samuel Williams, 
John Warren, 
David Colby. 



MILITARY HISTORY. 407 

Timothy Corey, afterwards deacon of the Baptist 
Church, was Captain at this time. He was succeeded in 
the office by Lieut. R. S. Davis. The sojourn at the Fort 
was barren of incident, except tlie occasional firing of a 
shot across the bows of some foreign vessel, which did not 
obey the signal to heave to, and rej^ort. A Spanish ves- 
sel thus arrested, had not a man on board who could 
speak English, neither was there one at head-quarters at 
the Fort who could speak Spanish, and after some rather 
amusing exhibitions of pantomime, the intruder was 
allowed to proceed. 

The Mexican War, hardly more popuhir in New Eng- 
land than the War of 1812, drew few volunteers from 
Brookline, and Colonel, afterwards Brigadier-general 
Mansfield, participated in the events of those times, and 
at the close of the war took up his residence in Brookline 
for several years, in the house on the corner of Park 
and Marion streets, now occupied by Mr. Mann. He fell, 
it will be recollected, at Antietam, during the Rebellion. 

During the years immediately preceding the Rebellion, 
public sentiment in our conservative community, had 
kept pace with that of Boston in hostility to slavery, and 
in 1856 the town was almost unanimous for the election 
of John C. Fremont, as President of the United States. 

BROOKLINE IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 

The guns of the siege of Fort Sumter, reverberating 
through the length and breadth of the land, awakened 
responsive echoes in Brookline. Groups of pale-faced, 
resolute men, were seen along the streets, in earnest con- 
versation, in the stores and post-office, at the railroad 
station, wherever two or three chanced to meet, with 
defiance in eye and step. The national colors were seen 
in every man's button-hole, and every school-boy's jacket ; 



408 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

they streamed from every public building and many a 
private roof, as if dearer and more honored than ever, 
they might thus be lifted out of their temporary degra- 
dation, before audacious and insolent South Carolina. 

President Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men 
was flashed by telegraph through the North, and Brook- 
line responded. Companies were forming everywhere, and 
the nucleus of one collected by Charles L. Chandler, after- 
wards Lieutenant-colonel of the Massachusetts 57th Regi- 
ment, already began to drill, before the town had time 
to summon a meeting, and take action in the matter ; the 
first volunteer being William, son of Samuel Goddard of 
this town — since deceased. A meeting of citizens was 
held, April 22, and a military committee appointed " to 
take charge of all military arrangements Avhich shall be 
made by the town." It was also voted '' to raise a mili- 
tary fund by a town tax, and that a sum not less than 
fifteen thousand dollars be appropriated therefor ; and to 
such fund shall be added all private contributions to be 
expended for such purposes as may be indicated by the 
donors." The Military Committee were authorized to 
draw upon this fund '^ in such amounts, and at such times, 
and for such purposes, as a majority of said committee 
shall determine." It was also voted, " that there forth- 
with be opened a list of all male inhabitants of Brook- 
line, above the age of seventeen years, who wish ^o be 
drilled for military service ; and that the Military Com- 
mtttee be authorized to form the persons signing such 
lists into such corps as they may deem expedient for the 
public good." On Monday evening, April 29, 1861, a 
legal town-meeting, duly notified, was held, and the above 
votes confirmed. 

One of the first acts of the Military Committee was 
the hiring of the hall in Guild's Block, for a drill hall 



BROOKLINE IN THi: WAR OK THK IIKI5KLLI0N. 409 

and armory, and Capt. Edward A. AVild, tlien a popular 
young physician in town, with Lieutenants diaries L. 
Chandlcn- and William L. Candler, commenced recruitinu* 
a company. 

The old town hall, then standing on the site of tlie 
present new one (only nearer Washington Street, which 
has since been widened at that point), had a piece of 
open ground in the rear, extending to tlie Pierce Primary 
school-house. Here, on the fine days of that memorable 
spring, the company met for drill, and the rudiments of 
military science were taught the young heroes outside 
the school-house, while the young Jieroes inside took 
aritlimetic and the spelling-book, to the beat of the drum, 
and listened with eager avidity to the history of their 
native land, as they saw the sunlight flash on the guns 
stacked before the windows, or turning in varied evolu 
tions as the drill proceeded. The fingers of the children> 
1)eat an unconscious tattoo upon tlieir desks as they 
studied, and their feet marched in a measured tramp as 
they went to their classes. 

The blood of the peo])le was up, and nothing but the 
war was thought of or discussed. The same week that 
the drill of the volunteers began, the ladies of the town 
organized a society to sew for them, and in every house, 
early and late, the needle and the sewing-machine^ were 
plied with vigor, for " our soldiers," that were to be. 
The best of materials Jind tlie best of Avork were put 
into the articles made, and thougli after experience had 
tauglit us what was necessary and what was superfluous, 
and tli(! ladies had learned that a soldier needs no larfjer 
slippers, or jimpler garments when a soldier than when a 
privjite citizen, and all had had their laugh over tlie mis- 
takes of early enthusiasm, there was left the conviction, 
that at least this purpose was served, — there was a vein" 

27 



410 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

thus given to a patriotic fervor of feeling, that was agon- 
izing unless expressed in some way, and the hearts of 
those were cheered who were preparing to go forth to 
victory or death. The substantial and excellent gar- 
ments that were made were far better than those supplied 
by the government, and a thousand little wants were 
foreseen and kept provided for from this source during 
the whole war. 

The Brookline Company became Company A, of the 
1st Mass. Regiment, and soon went into Camp Cameron 
at Cambridge. Another company, recruited principally 
by Wilder Dwight (afterwards Lieutenant-colonel) of 
Brookline, went into camp at West Roxbury, and be- 
came a part of the 2d Mass. Regiment. 

The Military Committee appropriated five hundred 
dollars for use of the men in Company A ; one hundred 
and twenty-five dollars each to Captain Wild, Lieu- 
tenants Chandler and Candler, for an outfit ; and also 
furnished the officers with a camp chest. The ladies, 
who had already been busily at work for three or four 
weeks, furnished the company with Avell-made under- 
garments, the cost of materials for which had been sub- 
scribed by various citizens. 

In the month of May, Jacob Miller, previously a ser- 
geant of artillery in the United States army, Avas engaged 
as drill-master and armorer, and squads of volunteers 
were drilled at the armory daily and every evening. Two 
field pieces were also obtained, and artillery drill was 
practiced by those who preferred that branch of the ser- 
vice. There was scarcely an hour in the day that the 
drum-beat was not heard in our streets, for the boys, 
burning with the enthusiasm of the times, must drill as 
did their elders; and during the whole of 1861-2, the 
boys of the public schools were drilled at the hall, and 



BROOKLINE IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 411 

in the streets. A fine company of boys was fonned, 
which was designated the " Brookline Rifles," chiefly 
from the High Scliool. This company was at first drilled 
by Sergeant Miller, but procured its uniforms and arms 
without expense to the town. It continued during the 
whole war, and was so finely drilled as to elicit higli en- 
comiums from competent judges, on several occasions. 
It was invited to many other towns, and was reviewed 
before the Governor and Legislature. Fortunately, the 
war closed before the age of the young soldiers admitted 
of their entering the army. By an enrollment of the 
town, made by the assessors, in August, 18G1, it ap- 
peared that there were in the town but six hundred and 
sixty- seven males between the ages of eighteen and 
forty-five, — aliens, and persons unfit for military duty 
included, — and it w^as apparent that should the Avar 
continue two or three years, Brookline would be obliged 
to procure soldiers, by bounty, from outside her territorial 
limits. 

In February, 1862, our first dead soldier was brought 
home for burial, not fallen in battle, but accidentally shot 
by a comrade. This w^as Herbert S. Barlow. The funeral 
services were held in the Harvard Congregational Church 
(now the Methodist), and the crowded house, and many 
a tearful eye, bore witness of the public feeling. " He 
was the only son of his mother, and she a widow." 

In August of the same year, occurred the second dis- 
astrous battle of Bull Run. For two or three days the 
public mind had been alternating between hope and fear, 
as contradictory telegrams were flashed over the wires. 
On Sunday morning came a dispatch from AVashington, 
asking for contributions of hospital stores, and surgeons 
from Boston and vicinity. Our army stores and hospital 
supplies had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and our 



412 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

wounded were suffering for every needful appliance. 
Even surgeons had taken off their own shirts to strip 
into bandages, and help must have been forthcoming 
abundantly and promptly, or the results would have been 
fatal. Governor Andrew and the State of Massachusetts 
had already established a reputation for prompt, decisive, 
patriotic action, and the President knew where to look 
for aid. The dispatch was received in Boston in the 
night, and before sunrise on Sunday morning Mr. George 
B. Blake of this town was in his chaise, on his way to 
arouse the people. He first called on Hon. G. Twichell, 
then President of the Boston and Worcester Railroad, 
and a plan was organized for the informing of the officers 
of the various churches, in order that the regular services 
of the day might give place to the good Samaritan's 
work. 

Mr. Blake rode till noon, not even delaying for break- 
fast, and thoroughly posted the people of Brookline, 
Brighton, and Roxbury, while Mayor Wightman and the 
police of Boston were active in their department. Mr. 
Twichell, in the mean time, was telegraphing to all the 
principal cities on the way, for engines to be in readiness, 
and carriages to convey the surgeons and others across 
New York city, and freight cars were provided by his 
orders to receive the goods, in Boston and in Brookline. 
The Sunday-schools had assembled at the various places 
of worship, when the news communicated by Messrs. 
Blake and Twichell to several other gentlemen was 
received at the various churches. Before the^ second 
bells began to ring, several webs of cotton cloth were on 
their way from the dry-goods stores to the churches. 
The congregations assembled in the pews, the news of 
the morning was announced, solemn prayer was offered, 
and the people were dismissed to the great duty of the 



BROOKLINE IN TFIK WAR OF THE REBELLION. 41o 

hour. It was the writer's privilege to share in the labors 
of the Baptist Society on that memorable Suntlay. The 
congregation partly assembled in the chapel, and a part 
went to their homes for materials. Without any attempt 
at organization, or any appointed head, everything moved 
as by clock-work, from the very outset. There was no 
rush, nor hurry, nor confusion ; but there was something 
for every man, woman, and child to do, for the older 
Sunday-school children remained, and many were the 
errands on which they were sent to the various houses of 
those who were doing work Avhich required their pres- 
ence, and the quiet and solemn dignity wdtli which the 
merriest hearted boys entered into the work of the day, 
showed them worthy of their country. In less than an 
hour, new cloth whicli had been cut off the web, in 
various lengths, carried home, shrunk, dried and pressed, 
was brought back into the chapel to be stripped into 
bandages. These were tightly rolled, fastened, and the 
number of yards marked on the outside of each roll. 

In the mean time, various delegations which had been 
sent out for boxes, came in with shoe-boxes, dry-goods 
boxes, empty barrels and firkins, from all quarters ; others 
returned laden Avith shirts, stockings, dressing-gowns, 
bed linen, slippers, and blankets, and from every quarter 
every delicacy which sick men could use, and even costly 
luxuries, unfit for sickness, were poured in. Choice old 
wines and fine new^ linen Avere freely given. Nothing 
was withheld that could be of use, from the set of a dozen 
new fine shirts, just completed by one housekeeper for 
her husband's home needs, to the stock of jellies and pre- 
serves laid up for the next winter's use. All were alike 
freely given, and the only regret seemed to be that there 
was not more to give, and those who could not contribute 
goods, freely gave money. Busy little fingers were 



414 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

scraping lint, and aged hands lent their tremulous ser- 
vice in many a useful way. Similar scenes were being 
enacted in the other churches, and few thought of going 
home to dine or rest. There was steady, calm, systematic 
work, and the amount accomplished seems incredible as 
we look back upon it. By four o'clock the goods were 
on the way to the depot, where two freight cars, which 
had been provided by Mr. Twichell, stood waiting. In 
these cars were closely packed twenty tons of goods from 
this town. In Boston eight other cars received the con- 
tributions of the city and surrounding towns, and the 
train consisted of ten cars, containing a hundred tons of 
supplies. Everything was assorted, carefully packed, and 
every box or package marked. Mr. Twichell volunteered 
to go on with the goods to Washington, and see them 
safely delivered, and he was accompanied by Dr. T. 
E. Francis and others, who went to make themselves 
useful as physicians, surgeons, or nurses. Twenty-one 
surgeons gave their services on this occasion, and the 
Mayor of Boston with a body of police accompanied 
them. Through some inadvertence the dispatch ordering 
the carriages in New York had not been received, and on 
the arrival of the train it appeared as if an inevitable 
delay must occur, which would prevent the party from 
reaching the Washington train in time. To Mr. Twichell 
belongs the credit of securing by his unflagging energy 
and enterprise the transfer of the forty persons who 
accompanied him, from the depot of the New Haven 
Railroad in New York, to the Jersey Ferry, in less than 
half an hour ; and by the cooperation of Mr. Barker, the 
agent of the connected line of cars and boats beyond 
New York, the train was detained long enough to admit 
of the arrival of the party. The physicians, nurses, and 
those in charge of supplies were thus enabled to reach 



BROOKLIXE IN THE WAR OF THE REP.ELLION. 415 

Washington a few hours in advance of the gcxxls, and 
perfected their arrangements tliere with the President, 
the Surgeon-general, and the Sanitary Commission, so 
that the goods which left Brookline at four o'clock on 
Sunday afternoon, and Boston soon after, were being 
distributed and applied to the wounded and suffering 
before seven the next Tuesday morning. 

To Colonel Adams of the " Adams Express " is due 
the honor of having generously and promptly forwarded 
the hundred tons of goods the whole distance free of 
charge, and this included the unloading of the entire ten 
carloads in New York, the transportation on wagons 
through the city, and the re-loading again in cars at the 
Jersey Ferry. 

Mr. Twichell returned after a few days' absence, and 
such was the intense interest to know from an eye-wit- 
ness something of the condition of our wounded, and the 
true state of things at the Capitol, that a public meeting 
was called in the Baptist Church, which was then the 
largest public building in town, and the audience which 
filled the church to overflowing was addressed by Mr. 
Twichell, who gave most interesting information, in a 
clear and satisfactory manner. President Lincoln wrote 
with his own hand a letter of cordial thanks to the 
people, which was read by Mr. Twichell ; but the good 
President, fearing he had not expressed himself with 
sufficient warmth, after giving the letter, added more and 
stronger expressions of grateful appreciation whicli he 
enjoined upon Mr. Twichell to repeat. Mrs. Lincoln, to 
her credit be it said, took her own carriage and accom- 
panied ^Ir. Twichell and a gentleman from Boston to all 
the hospitals in Washington, that they might ascertain 
just what supplies were needed in each department. 

The contributions did not stop with this occasion, but 



416 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

a steady and munificent stream of benevolence was con- 
stantly flowing towards our armies from this town, as 
well as from the whole vicinity, and the Sanitary Com- 
mission never called upon Brookline in vain. 

Miss Helen M. Griggs, daughter of the late David R. 
Griggs, of Harrison Place, early in the war, left the com- 
forts of a beautiful home, and gave her services as a 
nurse in Armor}^ Square Hospital, Washington, as long 
as the Avar lasted, except a short respite wdiich her failing 
health demanded. When the war closed, she took up 
her residence in Richmond, as a teacher of the freedmen, 
until obliged to relinquish her labors on account of im- 
paired health. 

In July, 1862, President Lincoln called for 800,000 
men to form new regiments, and recruit the old ones. 

On the 12th July, a meeting was called by the Select- 
men to consider the course to be adopted by this town in 
procuring enlistments. At this meeting, and at a legal 
town -meeting, held July 19th, it was voted " to appro- 
priate the sum of twelve thousand dollars for the purpose 
of paying bounties to volunteers, and for the relief of 
families of volunteers." 

On the 4th of August, the President issued a proc- 
lamation, stating that a draft for 300,000 men would be 
made on and after August 15, and that the deficiency on 
the call for volunteers which might then exist, must be 
drafted. 

In answer to a call of many citizens, a town-meeting 
was held on the 9th of August, and the result was a 
vote '' That the Military Committee be instructed to fill 
up the quota of the town as soon as possible, and to offer 
two hundred dollars bounty for each recruit." The 
armory was kept open day and night, and many men 
enlisted, some even before the town-meeting adjourned. 



BKOOKLINE IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 417 

]\Iaiiy citizens rendered cheerful service in assisting the 
]Military Committee, without compensation. The Presi- 
dent's call was for nine months' men only, but the town 
enlisted none but three years' men at this time. The 
expenditures of the town during the year ending Feb- 
ruary 1, 1863, for military matters, was -$49,053.24. In 
all, three hundred and twenty-nine men were enlisted 
during that year, and the Selectmen passed a vote of 
thanks to all volunteers, which Avas duly printed. The 
Board of Selectmen for 1861 and 1862, consisted of Messrs. 
James Bartlett, Marshall Stearns, Thomas Parsons, Ed- 
ward R. Seccomb, and N. G. Chapin. The ^Military Com- 
mittee comprised the first three above named, and ^lessrs. 
William K. Melcher, N. Lyford, William Aspinwall, 
James A. Dupee, James ^lurray Howe, M. B. Williams, 
M. Stearns, T. B. Hall, andE. A. Wild. Several Brook- 
line men, after drilling in artillery practice, under Ser- 
geant Miller, joined the 10th Mass. Battery, and did 
heroic service in the field during the rest of the war. 
This battery went into service in September, 1862. 

On the 2Tth of September, 1862, the Military Commit- 
tee received a letter from Colonel Thomas Aspinwall (ex- 
consul to London), inclosing the sum of three hundred 
and eighty dollars, twenty-nine cents, being two thirds 
of the proceeds of a lot of land belonging to^Colonel 
Aspinwall, '' sold by auction for benefit of our soldiers 
engaged in the suppression of the present rebellion." 

The following year, 1864, the same board of Selectmen 
served, with the exception of William J. Griggs, who served 
in place of E. R. Seccomb. On the 17th of October another 
call came for another three hundred thousand men, and 
Brookline's quota was seventy-two men. The recruiting 
office was again opened in Guild's building, and seventy- 
five men enlisted. It was hoped that this was to be the 



418 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

last call, but the office had been closed but a few days 
when the summons came for more, and Brookline's quota 
was forty-eight ; making in all, one hundred and twenty 
men. The work of the Sanitary Commission was drawing 
upon all the resources the ladies could command, and 
many soldiers' families were largely assisted by funds ap- 
propriated to this use by the Military Committee. 

The spring of 1865 witnessed the downfall of Richmond, 
and the Rebellion was over. 

In Brookline, as everywhere else, there was an out- 
burst of jubilant feeling. The church bells rang a merry 
peal, and every house was gay with flags. A meeting for 
joyful congratulation was held in the Town Hall, which 
was crowded to its utmost capacity, with all classes and 
conditions of people. It was a memorable occasion, and 
the enthusiastic speeches, the cordial handshaking, the 
tears, smiles, laughter, and general joyousness, were but 
a fitting expression of the public feeling. It was beyond 
words. A few days later, and the national joy was turned 
into mourning, for a pall had fallen upon every house and 
heart. The tragical death of the beloved President Lin- 
coln was nowhere more sincerely mourned than in our own 
community, as all will bear witness who remember that 
dark episode in our national history. 

To many a household, too, here as elsewhere, the tri- 
umphant ending of the war was overshadowed with pri- 
vate sorrows, for their brave beloved ones who came not 
back to join in the gladness of victory, and mingle their 
tears with the general mourning for the martyr President. 
They had fallen in camp and field, on sea, and in south- 
ern prisons ; — 

" On fame's eternal camping ground 
Their silent tents are spread, 
And glory guards with solemn round 
The bivouac of the dead." 



BROOKLINE IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 419 

The Selectmen, in closing their Avar report for the last 
year of the war, made use of the following language : — 

" We cannot close this article without referring with deep re- 
gret to the many brave men from this town, who have fallen in 
this fearful struggle for our nation's existence ; gladly would we 
speak of them as they deserve, if it were in our power ; but it 
is not. Their names should be inscribed high on the roll of 
fame, and held in grateful remembrance by all future generations. 
We can only say to their bereaved friends, that they have our 
heartfelt sympathy in this their sorrow ; and we, in behalf of the 
town and their fellow-citizens, gratefully tender our thanks to 
those who have returned to us, who have survived the fearful 
ordeal through which they have passed, in discharge of their 
duty to our common country ; and to all who are now at the 
front engaged in defense of law and good government. 
[Signed.] James Bartlett, 

Marshall Stearns, 
Thomas Parsons, 
William J. Griggs, 

EdWAKD S. rillLBRICK." 

From the breakino: out of the Rebellion to its close the 
town of Brookline furnished the United States govern- 
ment with eight hundred and eighty officers and men, in 
all departments of the service.* Many of these were non- 
residents, but a large number were not only residents but 
Brookline boys, brought up in our homes and schools, and 
who volunteered before bounties were offered, because 
they were able and willing to do their duty by their coun- 
try, and not only willing, but would have scorned not to 
do it. Many young men, natives of Brookline, were resi- 
dents in other towns and cities. Some of them returned to 

* Report of Selectmen. Adjutant-general Schouler's report says, " Brook- 
line furnished seven hundred and twenty men for the war, which was a surplus 
of one hundred and thirty-five over and above all demands. Thirty -four were 
commissioned officers." 



420 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

enlist in the roll of their native town, while many enlisted 
in the places where they were living, and their names 
honored many a regiment, from Boston to Chicago, and 
San Francisco. 

We had seen our regiments and batteries go, taking 
their bright banners from the hands of our great " war- 
governor," with full ranks, new uniforms, and shining 
equipments. We saw them return, a broken remnant, 
stained with the soil of dusty marches, bearing the tat- 
tered remnants of the flags they had borne through many 
battles, but they came to a cordial and glorious welcome, 
Avhether they came singly or in the ranks. Company A, 
of the Massachusetts 1st Regiment, which was largely 
composed of Brookline volunteers, was so depleted by 
sickness, death, and transfer, that at the close of the war 
there was but little of the original element left. Its 
captain had risen to the rank of brigadier-general, one of 
its lieutenants was wounded, the other lay among the 
unknown dead in front of Richmond, and several privates, 
or non-commissioned officers were raised to the rank of 
officers in other regiments. The 10th Massachusetts Bat- 
tery had many Brookline men in it, and on their return 
the town gave the Battery a generous reception. 

We copy the following account of the reception, from 
the " Boston Evening Transcript," June 15, 1865 : — 

" The 10th Mass. Battery, Capt. J. W. Adams, was received 
at Brookline yesterday. The battery came up from Gallop's 
Island at noon, and took the half-past one train for Brookline. 
On arriving at Chapel Station the veterans left the cars and a 
jn-ocession was formed in the following order : Brookline Drum 
Corj)s, Brookline Rifles, a company of lads, Capt, A. L. Lin- 
coln ; 10th Mass. Battery, Capt. J. W. Adams, with 113 men ; 
Brookline Brass Band ; Engine Co. No. 1, H. M. Hall, fore- 
man ; " Good Intent " Hose Co., G. H. Stone, foreman ; Pierce 



BROOKLINE IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION. 421 

Division Sons of Temperance, C. II. Stearns, W. P. ; retnrned 
soldiers ; town anthorities and citizens generally. 

" The colors of the Battery, inscribed witli the names of the 
battles in which it had been engaged, were carried in the front 
rank. Moses B. Williams, Esq., was Chief Marslial, and under 
his lead the procession marched throngh the streets of the beau- 
tiful town. At various points along the route the veterans 
were showered with beautiful bouquets. The procession pro- 
ceeded to the rear of the Town Hall, where a bountiful colla- 
tion was spread in Yale's mammoth tent. Plates were laid for 
upwards of four hundred, and the collation, furnished by Mr. 
Aaron Whitney, was excellent in (]uality, and abundant in 
quantity. 

" After the company had been seated, prayer was otlered by 
Rev. Dr. Lamson, aiKl the edibles w^ere then discussed for half 
an hour. The company were then called to order, and James 
IMurray Howe, Esq., welcomed the guests in eloquent and fitting 
terms, to which Cajnain Adams appropriately responded. Other 
speeches were made by John W. Candler, Rev. Dr. Hedge, 
Ginery Twichell, Esq., and Messrs. Atkinson and Dana, of 
Brookline, and artificer W. Y. Gross of the Battery." 

The whole affjiir was a success, and the veterans were 
enthusiastic in their expressions of pleasure. 

The 2d Mass. Regiment had been largely i^ecruited 
by Brookline men, and upwards of thirty thousand dol- 
lars were raised by private subscription, towards organ- 
izing this regiment ; but no })ublic demonstration was 
made on the return of its shattered remnant. The whole 
amount of money appropriated and expended by the 
town on account of the war, exclusive of State aid j}aid 
to soldiers' families, was one hundred and thirty-four 
thousand two hundred and twenty-four dollars and ninety- 
nine cents ($134,224.99). The amount raised and ex- 
pended during the war for aid to soldiers' families, and 



422 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

repaid to the town by the State, was twenty-one thousand 
four hundred and thirty-five dollars and seven cents 
(821,435.07). 

The services rendered by the ladies of the town were 
acknowledged to be great and valuable.* The amount of 
money raised by them and spent for the comfort of the 
soldiers, was not less than twenty thousand dollars. The 
town was represented in the military hospitals of Wash- 
ington, by both ladies and gentlemen, who gave their 
services as either temporary or permanent nurses, and 
little rills of beautiful unrecorded charities and sweet 
sympathies never ceased to flow into the camps and hos- 
pitals as long as they were needed. Even little children 
voluntarily contributed their mites, and gave their play 
hours to the public service. 

In closing the record of the war, w^e would gladly ap- 
pend a roll of honor, which should contain the name of 
every soldier who was credited to our town, whether a 
resident or not. They were all residents of our common 
country, and dear to some home circle, or at least to some 
human heart, and many names of our own toAvnsmen 
are lost to us because they were non-residents at the time 
and enlisted elsewhere. But the attempt would be vain 
to collect and arrange such a list for this work, and it 
would be impossible to do anything like justice in speak- 
ing of the hardships they bore, and the glorious result of 
their toils and sacrifices. Many of them have returned to 
us broken down in health, or maimed and disabled for 
life ; many others still in vigorous manhood are holding 
positions of active usefulness. We honor them all, from 
the highest ofiicer to the humblest private, who shoul- 
dered knapsack and gun ; the noblest man was none too 
noble for the cause for which he fought and won, and 

* See Adjutant-general Schouler's Report. 



BROOKLINE IN THE WAR OF THE RERELL10N\ 423 

the least worthy soklier who enlisted, was for once in his 
life engaged in a glorious cause. 

Of those who served in the Navy, we liave been unable 
to obtain a record. 

Of those who fell in the infantry and artillery service, 
we have obtained as full and correct a list as we could 
gather from Adjutant-general Schouler's reports, and 
other sources. 

Among all our Brookline soldiers we liave found but 
one deserter. 



424 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



BROOKLINE SOLDIERS 

WHO LOST THEIR LIVES DURING OR IN CONSEQUENCE OF 
THE REBELLION. 



Atkinson, Daniel W., lOtli Mass. Battery, killed at Hatch- 
er's Run, Ya., Oct. 27, 1864. 

Archer, George E., Co. H, 33d Mass. Reg't, accidentally 
killed July 6, 1863, at Camden, N. J. 

Barloav, Herbert S., Co. A, 1st Mass. Reg't, killed at 
Budd's Ferry, Va., Jan. 31, 1862. 

BoGMAN, Nelson, Rhode Island Battery, died in service. 

BixBY, Oliver C, Co. F, 58th Mass., killed July 30, 1864, 
at Petersburg, Va. 

BuRRiLL, George C, Lieut., 59th Reg't, killed May, 1864, 
in the Wilderness, Va. 

BuRRiLL, Paschal, Co. H, 2d Mass. Reg't, died of wounds, 
May 12, 1863. 

Burke, Joseph, Company I, 59th Reg't, killed May, 1864, 
at Spottsylvania, Va. 

Chandler, Charles L., Lieut.-col., 57th Reg't, killed at 
North Anna River, Va., May 24, 1864. Son of T. P. Chand- 
ler, Brookline. 

Clark, John W., 1st Mass. Battery, died October 4, 1862, 
at Bakersville, Md. 

Cusick, John, Co. H., 1st Reg't Heavy Artillery, died soon 
after his discharge at the close of the war, of hardship and ex- 
posure. 

Cleary, Tho:mas, Co. F, 56th Mass. Reg't, died at Annapo- 
lis, Md., April 13, 1864. 

Collins, George, Co. B, 2nd Reg't H. A., died March 26, 
1865, at Goldsboroudi, North Carolina. 



BROOKLINE SOLDIERS. 425 

Collins, Elbridge G., Co. G, 2d Reg't II. A., died pris- 
oner at Andersonville, Sept. 18C4. 

D WIGHT, Wilder, Lieut.-col., 2d INIass. Reg't, died of 
wounds received at Antietam, Sept. 19, 18G2. Son of AVilliam 
Dwiglit of Brookline. 

The intensely interesting " Life and Letters of Wilder 
Dwiglit," in our Public Library, has been so widely read, that 
further remark upon his character would seem superfluous, in 
a volume which is designed like this for only local circulation. 
But there is a generation of young people growing up, to whom 
the events of the Rebellion are as much a matter of past his- 
tory as the War of the Revolution. To such we can only 
recommend this attractive memorial, if they would know by one 
more proof, what beauty and strength of character, what genial 
traits and deserved popularity in life, and what heroic bravery 
in battle and in death, characterized this young martyr upon 
the field of Antietam. 

The solemn scene of his funeral, with military honors, from 
St. Paul's Church, Brookline, is engraven upon the memories 
of those who witnessed it. 

DwiGHT, Howard, Capt., killed by guerrillas after he had 
surrendered, near Bayou Bd'uf, Louisiana, May 4, 18G3. Son 
of William Dwight of Brookline. 

Dillon, Thomas, Co. B, 2d Reg't, killed at Antietam 
Sept. 17, 1862. Son of John Dillon of Brookline. 

Dale, James A., Corp., Co. H, 33d Reg't, died of wounds^ 
July 1, 1864. 

Foss, James M,, Serg't, Co. I, 59th Reg't, died Nov. 5, 
1864, at New York. 

Funk, Joseph W., 11th Mass. Reg't, died Oct. 16, 1864, at 
Washington. 

Getchell, Frank, Co. A, 1st Mass. Reg't, died Feb. 3, 
1863, at Falmouth, Va. 

Getchell, Louis G., Co. A, 1st Reg't, killed June 25, 
1862, at Fair Oaks, Va. 

GoDKiN, Charles II., Co. II, 2d Mass. Reg't II. A., died a 
prisoner at Andersonville, Oct. 1864. 



426 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Griswold, Charles E., Col., 56th Reg't, killed May 6^ 
1864, in the Wilderness. 

Harris, P. Nathaniel, Sergt., Co. D, 45th Mass. Reg't, 
died in North Carolina, June 1863. 

Hatmon, John, Co. H, 56th Mass. Reg't, killed at Peters- 
burg, July 30', 1864. 

KiTTRiDGE, Malcolm G., Co. G, 2d Reg't, killed May 3, 
1864, at Chancellorsville. 

Knibbs, Frederic, Co. G, 58th Reg't, died of wounds, at 
Fredericksburg, May 24, 1864. 

Kennedy, Timothy, Co. C, 28th Mass. Reg't, killed De- 
cember 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg. 

Lam son, Samuel G., son of Rev. Dr. Lamson of Brookline. 
Samuel Giles Lamson, only child of Rev. Dr. Lamson of Brook- 
line, was in the Paymaster's service, and was stationed at St. 
Louis. On the 3d of August, 1863, he embarked on board the 
steamer " Ruth," on his way to Vicksburg to pay off our sol- 
diers. 

On the way down the river the boat took fire. (It was said 
to be the work of rebel emissaries.) The boat was consumed 
and thirty lives were lost, among them this young man. His 
body was recovered, and after two weeks was received by his 
afflicted parents. He was buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery, 
Salem, Mass. Young Lamson was well educated, highly pa- 
triotic, and every way a promising young man. 

At the time of his death he was twenty-three years of age. 

Merrill, Otis S., Co. H, 44th Reg't, died at Newbern, N. 
C, March 2, 1863. 

McCalley, James, Co. H, 59th Reg't, died May 29, 1864, 
at Arlington, Ya. 

Maloney, Edward, Co. D, 56th Reg't, died June 13, 1864, 
at Readville, Mass. 

MoRiARTY, Patrick, Co. G, 56th Reg't, died Oct. 14,1864, 
at Danville. 

Meade, John, 16th Mass. Lt. Battery, drowned Jan. 28, 
1865, at New Brunswick, Ya. 



BROOKLINE SOLDIERS. 427 

PHELrs, Julius A., Co. A, 1st Rc^r't, killed June 30, 18G2, 
at Gleiidale, Va. 

Rollins, Charles E., Co. C, 44th Reg't, killed Nov. 2, 
18G2, at Little Creek, N. C. 

Russell, Alfred W., Co. G, 58tli Reg't, killed July 12, 
1864, at Petersburg. 

Reed, S. S., 2d Heavy Artillery, died at Andersonville, Sept. 
1864. 

Ross, Henry L., Co. G, 58th Reg't, killed May 6, 1864, in 
the Wilderness. 

Stearns, George Theodore. Co. B, 22d Reir't, wounded 
in Wilderness, May, 1864 ; died of wounds, in Washington, July 
6, 1864. 

Stone, Henry V. D., Lieut., son of Rev. Dr. Stone of 
Brookline. Killed at Gettysburg, July 3, 1864. 

SnuRTLEFF, Carlton A., Medical Cadet, died in Brookline, 
after return from service, June 2Q, 1864. Son of Dr. S. A. 
Shurtleff. 

Turner, Joseph, Co. A, 1st Mass. Reg't, died at Fair 
Oaks, June 21, 1862. 

Trowbridge, William H., dropped dead at night after 
Battle of INIalvern Hills, July, l.S(;2, while posted on picket 
duty. 

Thayer, John Gorham, 1st Mass. Cavalry, died of sickness 
incurred during service, at Sacramento, Cah, Dec. 28, 1864. 

Warren, Thomas G., Co. D, 22d Reg't, killed June 18, 
1864, at Petersburg. 

Whalan, Thomas, Co. F, 22d Reg't, killed May 10, 1864, 
at Laurel Hill, Va. 

Whitney, Charles II., Co. A., 1st Reg't, wounded and dis- 
abled, transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps, died in Brook- 
line shortly after his return. 

Waterman, Augustus, Co. A, 1st Reg't, taken prisoner, 
May 6, 1864, detained nearly a year at Andersonville, died of 
effects of starvation before reaching home, after he was dis- 
charged. 

Wells, Henry W., died in the naval service. 



428 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 

Thus closes the record of our dead. If any name has failed 
to be obtained and recorded, it is a matter of regret. 

Let DO one say "this one," or " that one was a non-resident." 
If he was, and our town hired his services, he died that some 
one, whom perchance we still hold dear, mio;ht be saved to us, 
who might otherwise have fallen in th^ trenches at Petersburg, 
or perished by slow starvation at Andersonville. 

Allusion was made in the early part of our war record, to 
Lieut. Charles L. Chandler, who was among the first to recruit 
a company of volunteers in Brookline. More than a passing 
notice is due to this brave young officer. When the war began, 
he at once relinquished his business (that of a civil engineer), 
and devoted himself to the service of the country. It soon 
became apparent that he could command himself, and that he 
had a rare aptitude for commanding others. 

He was but twenty-one when he received his first commis- 
sion, was made 1st Lieutenant in March, 1862, and served with 
the 1st Mass. Regiment, at the first battle of Bull Run, and 
through the Peninsula campaign. 

In August of that year he was made Captain in the 34th, 
and in March, 1864, was commissioned Lieutenant-colonel of the 
o7th (Veterans). Of this he was in command during most of the 
terrible battles in the " Wilderness," Colonel Bartlett having 
been wounded in one of the first engagements. 

Brigadier-general Ledlie writes of him : " From the moment 
of his joining his regiment at Alexandria, he attracted general 
attention by his remarkable qualities, both as a soldier and a 
gentleman, and no officer in the division was more respected 
and beloved." 

In the advance and terrible repulse of the First Division of 
the Ninth Army Corps, at the North Anna River, on the night 
of May 24, 1864, this gallant young officer was mortally 
wounded. His side received the fatal bullet, but his arm was 
also shattered, and hung motionless. His officers were assisting 
him off the field when they found themselves flanked by the 
rebels. At once he ordered them to leave him and rally their 
men, and reluctantly they laid him down to die. 



BROOKLINE SOLDIERS. 429 

He fell into the hands of the rebels, but Colouel Harris, of 
the Twelfth Mississippi Regiment, kindly cared for him in his 
last hours, and to him, a gentleman and a friend, as he prove<l 
himself, although a rebel, the dying soldier committed his money, 
his watch, diary, and a photograph. 

He had been three years in the service of the country, and 
had won the highest encomiums for his ability, fidelity, and rare 
and genial qualities. " Every otRcer and man," wrote General 
Bartlett, " that I have been to see in the hospital here, speak 
of Colonel Chandler's bravery and devotion with filling eyes. I 
never saw men who, in so short a time had such a feelinir of 
admiration for any man's conduct. His loss was felt throughout 
the corps." 

The kind rebel oHicer saw the body of the handsome young 
colonel properly buried, and after the war was over, took 
measures to let his family know of the mementoes he had kept 
for them, and delivered them to his brother, who made a jour- 
ney to Virginia; but the battle-field was vainly searched for 
the remains of the beloved one. They had been removed, and 
are now resting in an unknown grave ; but the love of friends 
and kindred, and the honor of his country, long shall keep his 
memory sacred. 

His last letter home expressed firm confidence in the jKjwer 
and love of the Lord respecting him. He had counted the cost, 
was ready for the sacrifice, and died hai)py in the noble dis- 
charge of his duty. 



430 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF BROOKLINE. 



OUR HEROES 

WHO SLEEP IN UNKNOWN GRAVES. 
MEMORIAL DAY, 1872. 

Being garlands for each patriot's grave, 

Our dear and honored dead ! 
Above the brave the flag shall wave, — 

The wreath its fragrance shod. 
They bore our nation's emblem hence 

When traitors scorned its name; 
Borne homeward from its brave defense 

Wrapped in its folds they came. 

Peace to their memories ! But for those 

Who went but came no more, — 
Who lie where facing rebel foes 

They fell mid battle's roar; — 
Who pined in prison and dying wore 

Starvation's martyr-crown, — 
Who sleep in fort and trench on shore, 

Or lie where ships went down ; — 

For them no flag, nor wreath, nor cross, 

To-day above them rest ; 
But, hallowed by the price it cost. 

In every patriot's breast, — 
Is freedom's triumph which the}^ won, 

By the brave blood they shed. 
And shrined in story and in song 

Shall be our nameless dead. 

Thrice hallowed ever be the land 

For which our heroes died, 
Nor the least boon of freedom's hand 

To one who seeks, denied ; 
By sea and sh -re, on mountain crest. 

Where'er unknown they sleep, 
The God of nations guard their rest, 

And green their memories keep. 



ADDEXDA. 



£i;™,r:":",r:r=jL:::;:;;:v::r;: 

o„,K.c.ea wuh ,..e clock now i„ .he new Town Ha„, which "tile 
^- an account of U was wHtUn ana pHntC, wa, in U. To^ 
Hall, ami seemcU to be a fixture there. It hns sincn I, ^ 

fron. the ancient case which haU inclose, it I 2 ::":: 
has been fitted in its new location bv Mr. John Koch, wid, a, a™ ^ 
pnate taste which n,akcs it appear as ifa part of the oH^ina ZZ 
of the gallery which it ornaments. " ' 

Other changes are going „„ in the town which are not nofice.l in 
Un oh. b,,,„,, „„^ ^.^^ ^^,„p,_^^^^_ ^^^ ^^ .^^_ ^^ .^^ 

matertal for some fijture historian of Brookline. . 



J 928 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 077 245 8 % 



